


Mochas and Macarons

by melliejellie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Crushes, I just wanted to write a rom com, M/M, Pining, Pâtisserie, side bokuaka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-10-08 11:59:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17386076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melliejellie/pseuds/melliejellie
Summary: Kuroo Tetsurou is a third year college student caught in a cycle of falling in love too hard, too quickly and scaring away the object of his somewhat intense affections. He's been single for some time, on purpose, and he's fairly sure he's fixed his little "crush" problem until he meets Tsukishima Kei, the hot, bored blonde at the fancy French bakery a few doors down from his job at a coffee shop.On the surface they couldn't be more different. Kuroo is determined and works hard in his classes and hustles at any job he can find to help make ends meet. Tsukishima, on the other hand, seems to enjoy floating along a path already laid out for him by other people -- until Kuroo discovers that there's more, so much more to the scowling blonde at the patisserie.Русский





	1. Which flavors would you like, sir?

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Mochas and Macarons](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17948705) by [Bomzhechmo11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bomzhechmo11/pseuds/Bomzhechmo11)



> 1.11 Happy Kurotsukki Day!

The smell of sugar and vanilla is thick in the air the moment Tetsurou walks through the door to the bakery down the street from his job. Actually, Tetsurou’s not even sure if bakery is the correct word. It’s pristine and carefully but subtly decorated in pale greens and blues. He feels like he’s walking into a movie set more than an actual place of business. 

Typically, Tetsurou would have neither the time nor the money to make a trip after his shift at the cafe was over, but his grandmother’s birthday is a special occasion. She never wants to do very much, but Tetsurou always wants to find little ways to spoil the woman who helped raise him when he and his dad moved in with his grandparents after his mom passed. He’s checked his very official budget that definitely isn’t just a sticky note on his desk. There’s a little wiggle room this week.

The shopping street where he works is is far from the most popular, but Tetsurou usually sees a high volume of customers everyday, so he’s surprised to find the sweets shop to be both mostly empty and much smaller than he would imagine. The only other patrons are a couple looking at pictures of wedding cakes in a big binder at one of the few tables in the front. There’s not even anyone behind the counter.

Tetsurou steps towards the glass case filled with chocolate confections and brightly decorated cakes. He’s barely an inch away from pressing his nose to the glass when a set of footsteps reminds him to back up and at least appear presentable. 

“Can I help you find anything in particular?” Tetsurou’s still stooped over, his eyes scanning the items in the case. He doesn’t look up to see the owner of the bored sounding voice.

“Just need something for my grandmother’s birthday and I work nearby so --” His eyes catch on some brightly colored… cookies? Cakes? “What are these?” He asks, pointing, and finally stands up.

Only to be greeted by a distressingly beautiful man. He’s tall. He’s slender. He’s blonde. He’s scowling. Tetsurou forgets how to breathe.

“Those are macarons. Like the sign says.” The blonde man’s expression hardly changes. His glasses make his eyes seem a bit bigger and brighter than they probably are, and his lips are a sharp, fine line like he’s forcing himself to hold back other comments. All of it is framed by fine blonde hair and a gentle jawline. He looks so hot and mean.

Tetsurou wills his voice to come out smoothly. “I can read the sign.” Fail. His voice nearly cracked. He clears his throat. “But what are macarons? Cookies or something?”

“You can try one.” The blonde offers, sounding a bit more upbeat.

“Yea?” 

“For three hundred yen.” He smirks.

Tetsurou dies where he stands. He’s perfect. “Fine. Give me a purple one.” Tetsurou motions towards the row nearest to him.

“You’ll have to be more specific. There’s mixed berry, lavender, --”

“The first one’s fine.”

The blonde pulls a wax paper sheet from a box beside him and carefully picks up a deep purple macaron from the back of the row. He stops short before handing it over the counter. “Do you want to eat this now or later?”

“Now’s good.”

“I mean, do you want it on a plate?” He lazily motions to the stack of small white plates next to him on the counter.

Tetsurou shakes his head. “Nah, I’m just gonna pop it in my mouth now.” His heart stops beating when he rethinks his phrasing.

The blonde just holds out his arm farther and Tetsurou enjoys the brief moment when he can brush his fingers along the other man’s gloved hand. 

When Tetsurou moves to take a bite, the blonde stops him. “You need to pay for it first.”

Tetsurou digs up some of his reserve confidence. “Don’t think I’m good for three hundred yen?” He grins and lifts one eyebrow.

The blonde shrugs. Tetsurou revises his earlier summary. The blonde looks so hot and bored. Tetsurou wants so badly to see what would get him to laugh or get angry. He’d take whatever he could get. 

The blonde walks the length of the counter and steps behind the register. He takes off one of the gloves and Tetsurou tries not to noticeably stare when those graceful fingers stretch once they’re free. He snaps his eyes up and is rewarded when he’s finally able to read the blonde’s name tag. “Here you go, Tsukishima-san.” He says, dropping the money into the small coin tray. 

One of Tsukishima’s hands shoots up to cover the nametag pinned to his tidy, black apron. A woman walks out of the back with a new tray of pastries from the kitchen. Tsukishima takes the money and sighs softly, looking like he’s forcing himself to stand up straighter and smile harder. Tetsurou preferred the other look.

The momentary spell is broken and Tetsurou is suddenly very aware that this man is at work, that a woman who seems to be in charge is right behind him, and there are other customers around. His limbs feel too long. He’s not sure how to eat. How do people normally chew? Does he bite too much at once? How does one properly eat a macaron?

It’s gone in two bites and then Tetsurou’s only holding an empty wax sheet in his hands, spare a few crumbs and a spot of leftover mixed berry filling. “That was good.” Tetsurou says stiffly as he crumples the sheet in his hands. He rocks back on his heels. “And for the record, it’s definitely a cookie.”

Tsukishima’s mouth twitches up in the corners. Tetsurou ascends to new levels of crush heaven.

“So,” Tsukishima rocks back on his heels and points at the glass case, “did you want to get anything for your--”

“Grandmother.”

“Right.” Tsukishima gently squeezes past the woman who is finishing refilling the case. 

Tetsurou follows until he’s back in front of the the rows of perfect deserts. “I’ll take some more macarons.” He chews his bottom lip, mentally calculating how much he can afford before his next paycheck, but still treat his grandmother to something small, but different and special. “Like, six?”

“Which flavors would you like,” Tsukishima pauses before the sharp smirk falls back into place on the blonde’s face, “Sir?”

Tetsurou replays the way he said “sir” in his head until he falls asleep that night.


	2. I’m horrible at dating.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou goes to work. Akaashi and Bokuto are adorable. Tetsurou tries to distract himself from a blooming crush.

His grandmother loved the macarons. The two of them enjoyed the little desserts with tea Tetsurou made while they chatted and laughed around the coffee table in the living room. Tetsurou used to worry that his grandmother would be lonely after his grandfather passed, and she misses him, they all do, but she told her grandson all about her birthday lunch and her shopping trip with her friends until his father got home. They managed to kindly leave one macaron for him.

The next morning Tetsurou has an opening shift at the cafe before his classes. Logically, he knows there’s no way a bakery would be open before six AM, but he walks by the shop slowly on his way to work, just in case. 

When he arrives, his friend Akaashi is already preparing for the day behind the counter. Tetsurou gives him a sleepy nod before he disappears into the back room and comes back with his bright red apron tied messily around his neck. 

“Mornin’.” He yawns.

“Good morning.” Akaashi sighs.

They might attend the same college, but they’re in different programs and only became friends when they became co-workers. Akaashi is typically so reserved that Tetsurou might never have gotten to know him otherwise. He’s glad he met him. Akaashi’s a great coworker but an even better friend.

A cough startles Tetsurou. His eyes dart over to the source and he’s surprised to see Akaashi’s boyfriend in the corner. “Why’s Bokuto here? We’re not open yet.” He teases.

“He wanted to take the train together this morning.” For a moment, Akaashi’s naturally downturned lips lift into a soft smile. Bokuto looks up and beams at Akaashi and winks at Tetsurou before getting back to work on the stack of books in front of him. He’s obviously half-asleep, but he’s still Bokuto - a man with the biggest personality Tetsurou knows.

Before long, the open sign is lit and commuters start pouring in. Tetsurou is able to lose himself in work and forget about his dwindling bank account, his mountain of reading he has left to do for class, and the blonde that might, maybe, could be working later today just a few doors away.

Once things start to die down, Tetsurou looks for tasks to keep his mind busy. He comes out from organizing the stock room and catches Akaashi and Bokuto mid-conversation. Bokuto’s pouting and Akaashi is looking stern while fighting back a grin.

“You have an out of town match this weekend, you need to get your work done. I’ll see you at home later.”

“But ‘kaashi--” Bokuto slumps dramatically on the counter next to the register.

“Your professors are very accomodating, but it’s going to be better if you get ahead now instead of playing catch up later.” 

“I can study here.” Bokuto stands back up and sticks out his bottom lip.

“You know you can’t.” Akaashi’s smile is now firmly etched across his face.

“Yea, I know.” For as big as he is, in personality and stature, Bokuto always seems so much smaller and more adorable with Akaashi around.

“Maybe you can go to the library?” Akaashi offers, his hands sliding gently along Bokuto’s on top of the counter.

Bokuto’s shoulders sag. 

“You usually do your best work there,” Akaashi leans in towards his boyfriend, whispering his final words, “Bokuto-san.”

That seems to do the trick. There’s a few sweet goodbyes and a quick, stealthy kiss shared behind the espresso machine, then Bokuto’s bounding through the doors onto the sidewalk with his backpack slung across one shoulder.

“God, he’s hot.” Akaashi whispers to himself.

“You’re such a dork.” Tetsurou snorts. “How long have you two been dating, again?”

“Three years and --” Akaashi holds out his fingers, counting “-- seven months. We started dating my second year of high school, his third.”

Tetsurou leans back and rests on the counter behind him. He rubs at the spot where the knot from his apron digs into his neck. “I want that - Not that, not Bokuto I mean, I just want what you two --” Tetsurou groans loudly, running his hands over his face before they droop down by his sides. “I’m horrible at dating.”

“What makes you say that?”

A customer walks in. They pause to take their order. Make the drink. Then they pick up right where they left off. 

“You were here for the last breakup.” Tetsurou reminds him. It was nearly a year ago now, but he booked a trip and then the guy ghosted him. Tetsurou took Kenma to the mountains instead. It hadn’t been the first time something like this had happened and Tetsurou had tried really hard to have a year where he just focused on family, work, and school.

“True, but you never really told me what happened.”

“I just -- I fall hard and fast and it scares people away. I’m way too intense with that stuff.”

Customers. Pause. A mocha and a cafe au lait for some college students waking up early for their classes, maybe to finish some work at the last minute.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Akaashi offers after calling the order. 

“Sure it is. No one wants the guy that plans trips right away and says ‘I love you’ too soon.”

“Bokuto did. I said I loved him on our first date.”

Tetsurou’s eyes widen. “What?”

“I had already loved him for a while by then, so it seemed right.” He shrugs, wiping a clean rag along the counter to wipe up spilled coffee. “I didn’t even have the proper levels of shame to feel embarrassed about it.” Glancing out the window, Akaashi laughs softly. “With the right person, it’s not so bad.”

Pause. Customers. A triple espresso. A peppermint mocha. An Americano for someone who looks like they hadn’t yet been asleep. A vanilla latte. The university students in the neighborhood are starting to come alive.

“Yikes, that one guy looked like you last Friday.” Akaashi snickers.

“Rude. At least I had fun. Some of us dance and don’t just stand in the corner at parties trying to look cool.”

“I wasn’t trying to look cool.” Akaashi grins and looks down at his feet. “I was so warm and drunk I didn’t want to move. Actually, I don’t think I could move”

Tetsurou throws his head back a little as he laughs. “Well you looked good.”

“Thanks, you too. Sweaty, but good, I guess.”

A few more orders roll through and they work together in a well-coordinated dance. Shifts with Akaashi always fly by the quickest. 

When Akaashi picks up the original conversation again his voice is sincere. He leans against the back counter and looks out into the cafe. “I know what other people think - that we’re too young to be in this deep, that it’ll pass, that we’re making a mistake - but I’m used to being kinda weird and I’m happy, so --” his mouth twitches up in the corners to punctuate his thought. 

Another pause. Another latte. The order is to stay and not to go, so Akaashi spends an extra minute creating an intricate leaf design in the foam on top. He seems to brighten when the woman compliments him on his work.

Akaashi smiles for real this time and Tetsurou’s reminded of why he had a short-lived crush on him when they first met at work. “He’s not perfect, but neither am I. He can be needy and moody and frustrating, but I think difficult people aren’t difficult, they just wear their heart on their sleeves.” Tetsurou catches the pink stretching across the bridge of Akaashi’s nose before he starts to walk towards the back room, hiding his face. “And for Bokuto, that’s a very big heart on some tightly-stretched sleeves.” He laughs gently.

“You’re right. You are weird. But the best kind of weird. I’m happy for you two.”

Akaashi puts his hand on the swinging door that leads to the back but pauses before he opens it fully. “What’s got you thinking about it today?”

“Nothing.”

“Alright.” Akaashi replies, but there’s a devious lilt in his voice.

When Tetsurou ends his shift before class, he slowly walks past the shop again. There’s no tall blonde behind the register.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahoo, trying to take advantage of the short chapters by updating more. I'd promise a schedule, but that would just stress me out and I'd keep having excuses anyway, soooooo why bother? Just, like, I will update at the very least once a week. That I can stick with - and aim for more!
> 
> I am so far out of my typical comfort zone right now, but it's so fun. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Chat with me on Twitter - [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


	3. Old ladies find me charming.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou returns to the patisserie and is (fairly?) successful.

A few days pass in a flurry of classes, tutoring for side cash, helping his grandmother, and carefully peering into the shop down the street on his way to his shift at the coffee shop. Looking through the large windows lined with pastries becomes so routine that when Tetsurou finally does spot blonde hair and a flash of a scowl at the counter, it startles him and he darts away from the window and hurries to start his shift early. 

He tries to distract himself by busying himself with work. When not providing his best customer service with a winning grin, he scrubs, he sorts, he straightens. It doesn’t help. Tetsurou keeps thinking about how the owner of a smirk he’s seen in his dreams is just three doors away from him. 

Tetsurou slumps onto his elbows on the counter. This one will pass, too. Like all the other crushes he’s managed to shove away this past year, this will pass and he will come out unhurt and still in one piece on the other side. And if he happens to indulge himself a little in the meantime, that couldn’t do too much damage, right? He’s had crushes on friends before. That’s just what he does. Then he gets a new friend out of the whole situation and the crush fades. It’s all good.

When his shift ends he takes decisive steps towards the bakery, reminding himself to be normal, not all shy and awkward like last time. “I got this. I talk to people all day long. They laugh at my jokes. Old ladies find me charming.”

Tetsurou accidentally swings open the door a little too quickly and the bells on the other side ring out harshly, earning him some surprised stares from customers in the shop and from one particular blonde behind the counter. He walks up to the glass case and points in Tsukishima’s direction with a winning grin. “Hey, thanks for the other day. My grandmother liked the macarons.” The words topple out a bit too swiftly, but overall he’s pleased with the result. He walked in and spoke like a human.

Tsukishima gives him a lopsided grin. “You’re welcome.” His reply is slow and it fades into a question at the end. His brows pinch together.

“Was hoping to pick up some more.” Tetsurou shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels, wishing he was wearing something other than the old black t-shirt and black jeans he wears under his apron all day. “Which ones are your favorites?” He boldly tries to venture into new territory.

“Well,” Tsukishima’s brows loosen slightly but his voice is slow, unsure, “all of the chocolate varieties are popular, but I,” he pauses, glancing up from the case to look at him for just a moment, “like the strawberry and raspberry ones. And any of the coffee-inspired flavors.”

“Oh, you like coffee?” Tetsurou welcomes the potential connection. There’s so much he could do with that. As a possible friend, of course. He’s going to stay the course, no crushes. But if he happens to make a handsome new friend --

“I guess.” Tsukishima shrugs.

Tetsurou deflates a little, but forges on. “I work at the coffee shop, like, just three doors away from here.” He motions to the right. “You should come by sometime, since it’s close and all.” 

“Okay.” The blonde’s expression is blank. 

“Do you go to school nearby?” Tetsurou tries again.

“Yea.” Is the only reply.

Alright, Tetsurou decides, he can take a hint. After all, the guy’s at work anyway. Tetsurou doesn’t mind when people chat with him at the shop, but he knows Akaashi prefers to just work silently. It might bum him out right now, but Tetsurou can respect that. He bends down a little more as though he needs to thoroughly inspect his flavor choices.

“I’m a freshman.” Tsukishima offers freely after a beat of silence. 

Tetsurou takes a deep breath and swears the air smells a bit sweeter than it did a moment ago. He stands back up and beams. “Awesome. I’m a junior. Education major.”

“Business.” And then it’s back, just like last time, the smallest hint of a smile.

A new customer walks through the doors and hurriedly steps up to the case. Tsukishima’s attention is pulled away as he tells them to wait just a moment, and Tetsurou is forced to pick his flavors quickly. 

He walks out holding a smaller pastel-striped box than last time. It’s just four macarons this time, to save money - one strawberry, one raspberry, one mocha, one cafe au lait. It’s still more money than he’d like to spend on something so frivolous but he gets an idea of how to make it a little more worth the trip. Tetsurou carefully cradles the box in one hand and reaches awkwardly behind him to grab for his phone in the front pocket of his backpack. 

The phone rings several times before it’s answered. “Kitty cat! You at home?”

Kenma just hums a non-committal response. 

“I’ll take that as a yes. You busy?”

“I’m studying.”

Tetsurou chuckles to himself. “Kenma, I can hear the video game.”

There’s a short puff of laughter in response. “But there’s a book open next to me.” Kenma defends.

“I’m coming over.”

His best friend sighs. “Fine, but I don’t have any food.”

“Taken care of.” Tetsurou looks at the box in his hands. “Kind of.”

“Well then you’re invited - kind of.”

Kenma might not live next door anymore, but Tetsurou still waltzes in and out of his place whenever he wants to. He’s never needed an invitation - not when they were kids and definitely not now.

When he gets to Kenma’s tiny student apartment, he lets himself in with the key Kenma gave him “for emergencies.” Apparently an emergency is anytime Kenma doesn’t want to get up to get the door, which is always. 

Kenma looks up from his game from his nest of pillows and blankets on the floor and eyes the fancy-looking box suspiciously.

Tetsurou usually shows up with a bag of Kenma’s favorite kimchi-flavored chips. “They’re macarons.” Tetsurou explains, opening the box.

Kenma’s brows draw together. “Do I want to know why you’ve spent money on fancy desserts for no reason?”

“Nope.” Tetsurou replies cheerfully. 

“Perfect, now grab the other controller.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the kudos and comments so far! It's always so encouraging to see them. I hope you continue to enjoy where things are going (one teeny chapter at a time)! ヽ(‘ ∇‘ )ノ
> 
> Chat with me on Twitter - [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


	4. I like what I like.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou returns to the patisserie a few more times and finally gets a visitor at the coffee shop.

For the next two weeks, Tetsurou establishes a pattern. He walks by the shop on his way to and from his shifts at the cafe and if he sees Tsukishima he’ll pop in to buy something extraordinarily inexpensive for a place where other customers sometimes walk out with a cake that costs what he makes in a day. Each time, he tries to get to know the blonde a little better, but it’s an uphill battle.

One day it’s a single petit four. 

“Those are usually bought in sets of four, eight, or twelve.” Tsukishima explains, his expression deadpan.

“Well, I just want one to go with my walking coffee.” Tetsurou taps the paper cup in his hand. “Got class soon.” As Tsukishima rings him up at the register, Tetsurou asks, “So are you from Tokyo?”

“Nope, Miyagi.”

Tsukishima’s answers are always terse, but Tetsurou returns. Another afternoon it’s a Madeleine. There’s a subtle hint of lemon and honey left behind as he finishes the oddly shaped cookie. 

“How’s your spring semester going?” Tetsurou asks with crumbs on his lips.

Tsukishima shrugs. “Not bad.”

On payday Tetsurou treats himself to something Tsukishima calls a mille-feuille. It’s far too pretty to shove a fork right into, so it’s tough to eat and Tetsurou catches Tsukishima snickering at him as Tetsurou struggles to not mess up the strawberry-filled work of art as he eats it in the front of the shop. He’s embarrassed, but it’s quickly overshadowed by the way he feels his nerves start to tingle when he realizes Tsukishima’s been watching him. And even if the laugh is a little mean-spirited, Tetsurou feels warm all over when he returns the small, white plate.

“Do you bake, too?” Tetsurou asks.

“Sometimes.”

“Can you make something like a,” he pauses, wanting to get the name right, “mi-mill- that thing I just ate?”

“Not in student housing, I can’t.”

He starts to learn a few French words that he can butcher as the blonde’s responses grow a little longer with each visit. Outside of the bakery, though, regular life continues.

Tetsurou’s working another early morning shift, taking orders and starting them while Akaashi finishes the work. The rush starts to die down and Tetsurou finally feels like he can breathe again.

Until he forgets how.

Tsukishima walks through the cafe’s double doors. Gone is the pristine black apron and in its place are dark jeans and a university hoodie that hangs loose on the blonde’s smaller frame but refuses to reach the end of his long arms. His hair is a little more ruffled than usual with more strands of it poking out at odd angles. 

Everything about him seems soft and warm until Tetsurou gets to the smirk that will surely be the death of him one of these days.

“Good morning.” Tetsurou calls and he mentally pats himself on the back for managing such a normal, human greeting. He smiles wide.

Tsukishima gives him curt nod in reply as he steps up to the counter. His eyes scan the menu above Tetsurou’s head. 

After a few moments, Tetsurou offers some advice. “People tend to get our traditional lattes, especially if you’re staying. Akaashi is a magician with latte art.”

“Maybe. I usually get something sweeter.” Tetsurou catches Tsukishima picking at the hem of his hoodie with one hand. Tetsurou’s heart jumps. Is the blonde nervous? Oh, he won’t even let himself finish that train of thought. It’s too good to think about.

“Really? You seem like someone who would take their coffee black.” 

Tsukishima rolls his eyes. “I work at a patisserie.”

“Oh so that’s what it’s called? I thought it was just a bakery.”

“It’s a type of bakery but it requires more steps to be able to claim the name - “ he cuts himself off. “It’s just a job but I guess I like what we make, so -”

“You don’t get sick of all the sugar?”

Tsukishima looks at him like he’s an idiot for even suggesting that. “No.”

“Do you like mochas?”

Tsukishima nods. “Could be good. I use a chocolate creamer in my instant coffee at home.”

“Oh that wounds me.” Tetsurou covers his heart dramatically. He sees Akaashi looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He reels himself back in. “That’s like the difference between convenient store pastries and the ones you sell. I’ll show you the light. You like cinnamon?”

“Yes, but I’ll need it to go.”

A few minutes later he’s handing over Tsukishima’s drink at the register, even though that’s usually Akaashi’s job. On the side of the cup he’s written “Tsukishima” and quickly drawn a little cat face with a black marker. If Tsukishima notices it, he doesn’t say anything. It’s too much, Tetsurou tells himself, put on the brakes.

Tsukishima eyes the cup without picking it up. “Can you put a little more whipped cream on top?”

“Seriously?” Tetsurou asks incredulously before fulfilling the request.

Tsukishima shrugs. “I like what I like.”

Me too, Tetsurou replies in his head. “Enjoy your class!” Tetsurou says with a big grin. This is, hands down, the most words they’ve ever exchanged and he’s on cloud nine. 

“Unlikely.”

Tetsurou raises an eyebrow in question as Tsukishima picks up his change. “Intro to Project Management. There’s so much group work. Dealing with other freshman is exhausting. Hence the coffee.”

Tetsurou laughs and Tsukishima puffs out a little laugh of his own. The sound of it has Tetsurou feeling light on his feet even after Tsukishima’s left and started his trek down the sidewalk.

“What did I just watch?” Akaashi asks behind him.

Tetsurou whirls around like he’d forgotten his friend was standing behind him the whole time. “What do you mean? That’s just my normal excellent customer service. You should try it sometime.” He deflects.

Akaashi’s arms are folded in front of him, looking smug. “That is not what I just saw.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“How do you two know each other?” Akaashi presses on and Tetsurou feels his cheeks growing warm with betrayal. 

“He works at the bakery down the street. I just went in to get something for my grandma’s birthday a few weeks ago.”

“And have gone back several times since?”

“I like what they make.” Tetsurou can feel his excuses crumbling even as they tumble from his lips.

“Sure.” Akaashi pushes himself off the back counter. “Next time you go bring something back - like some chocolate bread,” he pauses, his grin turning wicked, “or a boyfriend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With every fic I write I, of course, spend a lot of time imagining this little world so I can write the next pieces. I gotta say, I really like imagining this one. It's filled with so many of my favorite things. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


	5. Tetsu, you look dreadful.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou is tired. He talks with his grandma. He goes to a party.

Tetsurou gets out of his last class on Friday and lazily scrolls through his phone as he waits for the bus. He’s exhausted and looking forward to a nap before his weekend can begin. Actually, maybe the weekend can begin tomorrow. Maybe he’ll just nap, eat, and go back to bed tonight. 

In the second term of his third year, his classwork is a beast to be reckoned with, and he keeps picking up extra shifts and more tutoring clients to help his dad out with bills. It’s the least he can do since he’s not having to pay any rent, but Tetsurou’s totally worn out. He keeps a brave face, though, since he knows his dad is working far harder than him to make ends meet anyway.

He thumbs through the long text chain between a few of his friends. Like most Fridays, there’s a party at Kai’s but Tetsurou’s not sure if he wants to go. Akaashi’s out of town to watch Bokuto play and that’s usually who he ends up going to these things with. And it’s not like he currently has the energy to wrestle Kenma out of his apartment. Just the thought makes him sleepier.

He falls asleep on the bus but manages to wake up a few stops before his neighborhood. Tetsurou wipes at the small spot of drool at the corner of his lips and nods bashfully at the woman next to him so he can simultaneously apologize for being gross and ask to scoot past her so he can go home. 

It’s still fairly early by the time he crashes through the front door of his childhood home, toeing off his shoes and dragging his feet to the living room, ready to drop his heavy backpack and watch some TV.

His grandmother is sitting at the _kotatsu_ and reading, her back to the TV. The _kotatsu_ isn’t on, but the blanket extending from the top of it is wrapped around her small form. 

She looks up as he starts to settle in across from her, tucking his legs under the blanket, too, even though the sunshine outside makes it a bit unseasonably warm. Their house is a little older, though, and has always been a bit cooler inside. Maybe a blanket isn’t the worst idea right now.

She clicks her tongue when she sees him. “Those bags under your eyes, Tetsu, you look dreadful.” 

Tetsurou plops his head down heavy on the table, his cheek melting against the cool surface. She closes her book and lovingly slips her fingers through his unruly locks. “Not feeling sick, are you?”

“No, just tired.” He answers honestly.

The same Kuroo family grin settles onto her face. “You look older than me right now.”

He laughs and gently swats at her hand. “Do not.”

“You know what the secret to my vitality is?”

Tetsurou rolls his head so he’s resting his chin on top of his folded hands. “ _Natto_.”

She clicks her tongue again. “Fun, Tetsu-kun. The answer is fun. I spent today at the movies and then my friends and I got weird stares at the tea shop because we were laughing too hard.”

Tetsurou remembers fun. He seemed to have a lot more time for it before his third year began. “I don’t have as much time for fun, grandma.”

“You sound so pitiful. Where’s my grandson? What did you do with him?” She snickers.

Tetsurou sits up and stretches dramatically. “He’s hibernating. Has been since about October.” He smirks back, but he finds it hard to leave it there. His smile drops. “I don’t know. I’ve just been way more overwhelmed. I used to be able to keep my grades up, work my jobs, and still go hang out all the time, but now it’s like it takes so much more effort to keep my grades up that once I finish working I’m, like, done.”

She looks at him the same way she would when he skinned his knee falling down outside. “Don’t work so hard for later that you forget to enjoy now. Are you working tonight?”

“No.” Tetsurou sounds relieved.

“Then take a nap, just like the little old man you seem to have turned into. I bet you’ll feel like doing something later. Go make Ken-kun get out of his apartment, too. He definitely needs to get out.” She laughs softly.

Tetsurou does, too. “Are you telling me it’s time for my nap?”

“I am. Should sound familiar.” She waves her hand towards the stairs. “See you later. You need tea first?”

“Nah, I’m okay.”

Two hours later, Tetsurou’s mouth is as dry as a desert but he does feel a lot more human than he did this afternoon. When he gets downstairs he hears his grandmother in the kitchen and notices his dad still isn’t home from work. He helps her make dinner for the two of them and sets aside a plate for his dad and a plastic container to bring to Kenma. They talk about nothing and everything over dinner and he has to continue promising that he’s going to do something fun tonight. 

Tetsurou shows up to Kenma’s after finishing a little bit more homework. People will be showing up to Kai’s soon, he knows, but first he needs to win Kenma’s favor. He presents the food once he’s inside and Kenma eyes it hungrily. “Thank you.” He mumbles as he tears into the home cooked food. While he eats Tetsurou peers through his cabinets to think of things to add to Kenma’s shopping list.

Once dinner’s done and they’re cooperatively tearing their way through dinosaur-infested forests with controllers in hand, Kenma asks, “So where are you making me go tonight?”

“Kai’s.” No sense in lying. Kenma knows how it goes.

Kenma hums a non committal response.

“You okay with that?”

“Yea.” Kenma stops talking as he reads through the stats on the screen. “I’d never go by myself but it’s fine with you, I guess.”

“Aw, you do care!” Tetsurou launches himself into an awkward hug around Kenma’s shoulders.

“Kuro - the game. Focus.” There’s a hint of actual worry in Kenma’s voice.

Tetsurou chuckles. “Alright, alright. We’ll play a little longer -” he gets in a couple of good shots with his bow, “and then we’ll go.”

Standing outside Kai’s place a little while later and hearing the voices inside gives him the same mix of excitement and dread he always feels right before being social on this level. He knows he’ll be happy once he’s in there, never want to leave, forcing Kenma to pull him out and rescue him from questionable choices later in the evening, but right before he always needs a deep breath. 

He opens the unlocked door and the first thing he sees is a flash of blonde hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, of course he's going to a party with his best friend. And of course his crush is there. Because this is a patisserie and coffee shop themed rom com and that's how this ship sails! ヽ(‘ ∇‘ )ノ
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has been leaving kudos and comments. It helps keep the story train rolling!


	6. It’s probably nothing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenma's a good friend, too.

“What?” Kenma grumbles, pushing Tetsurou forward into the noisy apartment.

It’s just the back of his head, but it’s unmistakably Tsukishima. Tetsurou watches as the tall man walks farther away, deeper into the room filled with people. “Nothing, just thought I saw someone.”

“And?”

“It’s not them.” He lies.

Tetsurou swims through the crowd with Kenma in tow until he finds Kai and his other friends. Kai’s already pretty drunk and Yaku is eyeballing his new Russian “friend,” the one he reportedly wants to “climb like a mountain.” 

Tetsurou’s listening to the conversation, but his eyes keep breaking away to scan the crowd. This apartment isn’t that big, where did he go?

Not that he’s looking.

They quickly get roped into a game of beer pong by some unsuspecting guests. They must be new here. Kai throws his head back and laughs as Tetsurou grins wide. Little do they know, Kenma never misses. It helps that Kenma doesn’t drink and any of his punishment beers go to Tetsurou instead, but Kenma’s a force to be reckoned with. After one easy victory, challengers continue approaching as alcohol raises everyone’s confidence and Kenma’s eyes grow just a little wider with each new opponent.

Soon a small crowd gathers to watch the spectacle. Tetsurou’s feeling a little bit more relaxed and warm all over. It’s not an unwelcome feeling after his long week. And if he happens to lose focus every now and then because he’s still scanning the crowd for a smirk and a pop of blonde hair, well then, no one could blame him, right? It’s just interesting, running into Tsukishima here. He’s never seen him outside of their jobs. It’s natural to be curious.

But his desire to gloat is also strong and wins out in the end. He high fives Kai a little harder each time they win and wraps himself around Kenma’s shoulders after another victory, shouting about being invincible.

Oh. He might be drunker than he originally calculated. How long has he been here?

His eyes wander, trying to find the clock on Kai’s wall. He finds blonde hair instead. Behind the first row of spectators is Tsukishima. Their eyes meet. Tetsurou whips his head around to make sure Tsukishima’s not looking at something else.

Nope, nothing but wall behind him.

He turns back around and Tsukishima is still looking, his face unreadable. Tetsurou manages a short wave with his hand that isn’t wrapped around his best friend. 

Kenma shoots him some side-eye. “Let’s get you some water. You’re sweaty.” Kenma shucks off his arm and Tetsurou stands up straight, smoothing down the front of his shirt. He looks up. Tsukishima isn’t there anymore.

Tetsurou follows Kenma to the tiny, empty kitchen. He decides the drunk situation isn’t dire. He can stand up. He’s walking well. Until he wonders if Tsukishima is still looking at him from somewhere in the room. He missteps on his way to the kitchen.

Kenma fills a plastic cup with water and shoves it in his direction. 

“Thanks, Kitty Cat. You always take such good care of me.” He taps Kenma’s shoe with his own.

Kenma just hums in response, but Tetsurou catches a quick sincere smile.

“You ready to go home?”

Kenma shrugs. “I’m fine to stay if you are.”

A little spark of hope jumps in Tetsurou’s chest. He peers out of the kitchen, back into the busy living room and scans the crowd.

“Alright, what’s all this about?”

When Tetsurou looks back at his best friend, Kenma’s eyes have narrowed. 

“What do you mean?”

“Even when we were playing you kept looking around. You don’t usually do that. I mean, I know the game is dumb but you usually pay attention.”

“I was paying attention! I am always focused.” Tetsurou uses his free hand to press against his chest and look off into the distance like some wise philosopher.

Kenma lazily rolls his eyes. “Spill it. I’ve known you long enough.”

“It’s nothing.” Tetsurou says the words before he can catch them. It’s the final nail in his coffin. Now Kenma knows it’s something. 

Is it really something, though? Or is his beer-filled brain just making his heart beat faster for no reason?

Kenma sighs and leans against the fridge. “Fine.” He yawns and looks bored. The whole scene makes Tetsurou remember why they’re friends. Kenma’s just as dramatic as Tetsurou is -- in his own way. 

“It’s probably nothing.” Tetsurou amends.

“Meaning?”

“I’m trying to not get myself wrapped up in another disaster.”

“But-” Kenma’s side eye is back. Of all the people in his life, Kenma’s watched this same scene play out time and time again and he’s stuck by Tetsurou everytime. Tetsurou can’t figure out if Kenma looks more exasperated or hopeful. On Kenma’s face those emotions can look the same unless Tetsurou’s looking right at him and at the moment Tetsurou can’t seem to look him right in the eye.

“But I kind of am. By accident. Not on purpose.”

“Who’s it this time?” Kenma closes his eyes and rests his head on the fridge.

Tetsurou spares another glance around the corner. “Just someone I see at work.”

“A coworker?” Kenma opens his eyes and scrunches up his nose. He knows who Tetsurou works with. He usually goes to the shop on campus to fuel his caffeine addiction because it’s cheaper, but he’s come by the coffee shop enough times to know. Kenma only really likes Akaashi out of all of them.

“No, someone who works down the street.”

“And they’re here?”

Tetsurou nods. 

Kenma bites his bottom lip and looks lost in thought. “So do you want to leave because they’re here or stay because they’re here?”

“I don’t know. Stay?”

“You’re not sure.” It’s pointedly a statement, not a question.

“Nah, I am. Let’s stay. It’s not that late yet.”

“Do you want to talk to them?”

“If it happens, cool. If not, fine.”

“Good.” That seems to be the right answer. A ghost of a smile crosses Kenma’s lips. “Now eat something before you drink anymore.”

“Thanks, Mama Cat.” Tetsurou musses up Kenma’s hair before Kenma darts out of the way.

“Stop it. You’re weird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *wants to move the story along*  
> Also me: *writes whole scenes of this pure AF friendship*  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> More Tsukki soon. Proooomise~ Poor Kuroo is so gone and he knows it.


	7. Good to run into you - literally.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou actually speaks to Tsukishima at the party.

Hydrated and content after drinking water and shoving handfuls of chips into his mouth, Tetsurou walks out of the kitchen. He turns to face the crowd in the living room again, ready to use his beer-fueled confidence as a soft haze settles into his brain. He squeezes past clumps of people on his way back over to Kai. There’s lots of “excuse me” and “just scooting past” but he stills smacks someone hard with his shoulder.

“Crap - I’m sorry.” He spins to apologize properly and it’s all blonde hair and a scowl.

Of course it is.

He inhales sharply and hopes Tsukishima doesn’t notice the way he freezes. Tetsurou feels a sharp poke in his side and then Kenma walks past him. Well, Kenma noticed something. He pulls himself back together.

“Sorry.” Tetsurou says again. “But good to run into you - literally.” On the outside he grins and winks, but inwardly he cringes. “What brings you to Kai’s tonight?” He yells a little over the music.

Tsukishima looks past him, over Tetsurou's shoulder, then refocuses. He leans in a little closer to reply and be heard over the music. “Oh, is that who’s apartment I’m in?” He sounds completely over it, but Tetsurou can’t help but notice how his cheeks are a little flushed. 

The way the rosiness spreads across his pale skin, how close he is right now - Tetsurou chuckles casually while his heart does intense gymnastics in his chest. “You didn’t know?”

“No. My friend brought me here tonight.” Tsukishima looks past him again.

“Well, welcome anyway.” Tetsurou motions as wide as he can in the tight room.

Tsukishima stops looking around. When his focus falls back on Tetsurou his eyes lock right on his. Tonight they’re less sharp, more glassy than what Tetsurou normally sees. “Are these friends of yours?” 

“Yep.” Tetsurou’s voice is thin. Tsukishima is standing so close. Tetsurou wonders if he realizes how close. Maybe it doesn’t matter as much to him.

The song ends and for a moment he doesn’t have to yell. “I’ve known Kai and Yaku since freshman year.” He points over by the couches in the living room where they both are. He sees that Kenma’s settled in next to Yaku’s new Russian who is talking his ear off, by the looks of it.

“Well, I have to --”

“Did you like what you saw?” Tetsurou asks at the same time Tsukishima speaks. The blonde raises an eyebrow and Tetsurou wants to shove his entire shoe in his mouth. “When I was playing beer pong.” He tries to save the comment. “I saw you watching me.” The song picks up and he raises his voice to be heard again. “I got skills, right?”

He watches as Tsukishima’s lips curl into a sharp smirk. “Not bad,” he shrugs, leaning in towards Tetsurou’s ear, “for a game that requires no skills.”

Tetsurou feels Tsukishima’s breath on his ear. He’s warm and close and snarky and smells a little like fruity vodka and if Tetsurou wasn’t sure before, he’s sure now. This man is absolutely going to be his next disaster. 

He’s glad the music drowns out the hammering in his chest. Tetsurou pulls back so he can see him again. “Oh ho, shots fired. Didn’t see you trying.” 

Tsukishima clicks his tongue. “Not my type of game.”

“What is your type of game, then?” He paints on a smirk of his own. Somewhere during the conversation, he must have died and been reborn because now this feels like more comfortable, albeit heart-pounding, territory. 

“Nothing involving unsanitary ping pong balls and warm beer.” Tsukishima steps a little closer again as the crowd tightens. He reaches out and flicks Tetsurou’s beer bottle in his hand.

Are they flirting? It feels like flirting. Tetsurou can’t keep his eyes off the pink flush across the bridge of Tsukishima’s nose. “Can’t knock it ‘til you try it.” He bites his bottom lip to punctuate the thought.

“Tried it.”

“And?” Tetsurou raises an eyebrow.

Tsukishima leans closer to his ear again. “It’s really stupid.”

The blonde stands up straight again. A grin forms on his lips but quickly disappears when he looks down at his feet.

And then Tetsurou has no idea where to go next. The center of his next wonderful disaster is leaning in so close. He’s tipsy but he’s still the same bitingly clever man that stands behind the counter at the bakery. It’s every opportunity he’s wanted but Tetsurou has no idea what to say. 

His brain runs through all of the dumb conversations about weather and school that he uses with his customers. None of it is right. His mind is swimming but somewhere in the hurricane of words and phrases he spits out, “You glad you came?”

Tsukishima’s eyes snap back up and, for an instant, the careful smirk is nowhere to be seen. His lips are parted as he stares right at Tetsurou. He shrugs, coming back to his normal self, “It’s fine. Would rather be somewhere quie--”

“Tsukki!” Someone barrels into the blonde, jostling him off balance. Tetsurou takes in the also flushed, very freckled man hugging Tsukishima’s middle. He presses his face hard against Tsukishima’s arm. “I found you!” He shouts, grinning from ear to ear.

Tsukishima pushes on the other man’s shoulder to get him to stand, but Tetsurou can’t miss the genuine smile on his face. “Get off, Yamaguchi. You’re a sloppy drunk.”

The other man, Yamaguchi apparently, laughs and settles back down on Tsukishima’s arm. “I know I am.” The blonde doesn’t push him off this time.

“You ready to go back?” Tsukishima asks.

“Who’s this?” Yamaguchi points at Tetsurou. His finger waves around like he can’t keep it steady.

“I’m Kuroo. Nice to meet you.” They might all be at different levels of inebriation, but he still has manners.

Yamaguchi hangs heavier off of Tsukishima’s arm. “How do you know Tsukki, Kuroo-san?” Yamaguchi sings the question along with the music that’s playing. 

Tetsurou bristles at hearing the nickname again and watching the way Tsukishima so easily lets this other person into his space.

Tsukishima answers instead. “He works near me.” The blonde props his friend up again and this time Yamaguchi stays on his own two feet. Tsukishima turns to Tetsurou. “Well, see ya.”

“Yea, see ya. Glad I ran into you.” Tetsurou juts out his elbow to highlight the pun from earlier.

“Yea, you too.” He half waves as they start to walk past Tetsurou. The mood from earlier is entirely gone. 

Tetsurou watches as Tsukishima and his friend walk towards the door. As they step out into the night, Tsukishima tips his head back and laughs. He throws an arm around his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, what is going on in Tsukki's mind? Hmmm? （；￣︶￣）  
> And welcome to the story, Yams!
> 
> I'm enjoying the short chapters. It gives me a chance to focus on a scene and (sometimes wildly) change it from my original outline. The bones of the story stay the same, but the... flesh (???) of it is changing as I get more into it.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! (*＾▽＾)／ It helps me stay on my 2x a week posting schedule. Your encouragement is excellent. (And if you don't know what to say, you know, an emoji is awesome, too.)


	8. Can you make them?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou nervously initiates a challenge.

Thanks to his trusted hangover prevention routines the night before, Tetsurou wakes up groggy from being out late but without feeling like his head is being split in two. The orange juice and multivitamin cocktail always does the trick. As do his favorite fluffy socks. And turning off his lights in the right order. So the last one might be just superstitious, but it hasn’t failed him yet. 

He’s just a little queasy, but it’s nothing a little breakfast couldn’t handle. Can it still be breakfast if it’s close to noon?

Tetsurou lies in bed with his phone propped up against a pillow, scrolling through photos he took last night and messages he didn’t read throughout the evening. A chain from Kenma catches his attention.

Kenma Cat >> I’m watching you be such a loser right now  
Kenma Cat >> oh this is so embarrassing  
Kenma Cat >> why are we friends?  
Kenma Cat>> but also I’m texting you to try and get this Lev guy to stop talking to me but it’s not working  
Kenma Cat>> I don’t think he cares that I’m not listening  
Kenma Cat >> I think he’d talk to a tree  
Kenma Cat >> when you’re done being a disaster, help me

>> You’re the best/worst. I’m coming over after work today, btw. Be ready to get your ass kicked in Smash.

Tetsurou snorts. He didn’t see the messages but he did go and rescue his best friend right after watching Tsukishima and his friend leave.

Something twists in his guts and it’s not just the remnants of last night swimming through his system. He’s already rationalized away the pangs of… what? Jealousy? God, how old is he? After all, he’s really close with Kenma because they’ve known each other for so long. Tsukishima and his friend are probably like that. 

But that laugh as they walked out the door. The way he so casually slung his arm around him. Every other time he’s seen Tsukishima he’s been bored or smirking, barely talking and definitely not laughing. This other person gets to see a whole other side of the blonde. What if there’s someone else who already gets to see that side? Or what if that Yamaguchi person is that someone in Tsukishima’s life already?

Tetsurou groans aloud, trying to shut the train of thought down for the hundredth time, berating himself for falling down the same hole time and time again. He’s waiting for the day he’ll be jaded enough to stop the pattern, but this time, like all the others, he keeps hoping.

Deciding that showing up late to an afternoon shift because he was still in bed wouldn't be the best look, Tetsurou finally slides out from between his sheets. He fits in a quick shower before scrounging in the kitchen for breakfast leftovers. One bowl of cold pasta later, he’s out the door.

By the time he makes it to the shopping street where he works, Tetsurou is hustling past the weekend shoppers to try and make it on time. As he rushes past the bakery, he spares a glance and sees Tsukishima behind the counter. Tetsurou stops dead. Checks the time on his phone. Taps his foot and bites his lip. He keeps jogging until he stumbles in to work.

There’s no Akaashi, just weekend customers ordering lattes, mochas, and fruity whip cream abominations. He smiles. He laughs. He cracks jokes. He winks and gets tips in the tip jar. But Tetsurou keeps wondering when Tsukishima’s shift is over and if he’ll be able to catch him before he leaves. He anxiously fills orders until it’s time for his break.

He pulls of his apron and wishes he’d picked a better shirt to wear underneath. This black t-shirt is faded from one too many washes, but it’s soft and gets him through the day. And since the v-neck definitely gets him a few more tips in the jar, then maybe Tsukishima wouldn't mind what he sees either. Tetsurou runs his fingers through his hair, gives up, and takes big, decisive steps on his way in. He has a plan this time.

The patisserie is busier than it usually is. Tsukishima’s not even alone behind the counter anymore. Tetsurou recognizes the woman that looks like his boss and another college student at the register. 

Tetsurou gets in line anyway, scanning the glass case for his choice of the day but never taking his eyes off the blonde for too long. When Tsukishima finally notices him, Tetsurou watches how his eyes open a little wider, how he stutters mid-sentence with another customer. Tetsurou hopes.

“Welcome. How can I help you today,” Tsukishima says in a tone that’s far too cheery for him, but he pauses, lifts an eyebrow, and finishes with, “sir?” Even in the busy shop Tetsurou hears the low tone and remembers how it sounded as Tsukishima’s breath danced past his ear the night before. But nothing else about the blonde’s face changes. The same happy worker smile is plastered on his face.

Tetsurou sticks to his plan. “One of those, please.” He points to a tray of strawberry-lemon choux buns. “Any good? I’ll trust your judgement since you’ve probably tried all the strawberry items here.”

Tsukishima’s fake smile upturns just a little more at the corners. “I like them.” 

“Then so do I.” He pauses for effect, but the blonde keeps his schooled expression. “To go, please. I have to go back to work soon.”

Tsukishima quickly goes through the motions of picking one out and placing it carefully into a small box, obviously mindful of the line still behind Tetsurou. 

“They look tough to make. Are they?” Tetsurou asks as the blonde works.

“Not really.”

“Can you make them?”

Tsukishima folds the box so it’ll close. He shrugs. “Haven’t tried.”

“Too bad. I bet they’d be good.” He waits until he’s sure he has the blonde’s attention. “But probably too tough for you to do anyway.” He nervously issues the challenge, the plan in motion. It’s a gamble, but something about the blonde’s demeanor makes him think it’s the right move.

Tsukishima’s careful smile drops. A familiar smirk takes its place. “Yea, probably. Guess you’ll never know.”

“What a shame.” He adds a sigh to be dramatic. “I think I’d like them.”

"I bet you would." There's a gleam in his eyes before Tsukishima quickly looks down at his hands and labels the back of the box with a black marker. Then he passes the box down the counter towards the register, preparing to help the next customer. “Thank you. We hope to see you again soon.” The canned line is delivered easily but Tetsurou hopes he’s not imagining that the tips of the blonde’s ears have grown a bit redder.

Tetsurou pays and walks out of the shop. He turns the box in his hands to take out his carefully crafted afternoon treat. He comes to a standstill outside the coffee shop.

On the box next to the label is a small, hand-drawn black bird. His legs are a bit too long but his body is plump and round. All Tetsurou can think is, “cute.”

This crush is expensive, but maybe it’s worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ₍₍ (ง ˙ω˙)ว ⁾⁾ *very gently pushes our bois forward*
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and leaving comments/kudos/love, my little choux buns!


	9. I can’t breathe. I’m dying. I’m dead.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou's definitely not looking everywhere to catch sight of the blonde. Nope, not at all.

Tetsurou picks up some extra shifts, but he doesn’t see Tsukishima through the bakery window for a few days. The next time he sees him it’s on campus. Tetsurou’s juggling his books and laptop that he was too frustrated to put back into his overstuffed backpack as he fled class to feed his growling stomach.

He goes through the line and balances two sandwiches on top of his laptop and grabs a soda, carefully leaning his stack of knowledge and lunch against his body. Feeling victorious after managing to pay for his meal without dropping anything, he saunters towards an open table but stops short when he sees blonde hair and a bored expression. 

Tsukishima’s lazily scrolling through something on his phone. His head is propped up on one arm. By the look of it, his lunch is long over. Across from him is an empty cup, like someone was sitting there but has since left. 

Tetsurou wants to get his attention but he doesn’t want to startle him. He also doesn’t want to seem too desperate for attention. He’s got to play it cool. Problem is, the stack in his arms is slipping and he’s about to look positively uncool in about ten seconds. Quickly he sets the heavy load down on a nearby table. Tsukishima’s eyes snap towards the source of the sound.

Tetsurou smiles, waves a little with two fingers before stiffly settling his hand by his side. There’s two empty tables between them, just enough he thinks, to make it look like it happened on accident. He tries to look surprised. Tsukishima smiles weakly over at him, raises his eyebrows for a second to acknowledge the wave, then goes back to his phone.

Now what? Tetsurou sits down beside his pile of stuff and unwraps one of the sandwiches on autopilot. He wants to say something but there’s no conversation starters here, no baked goods, no coffee, no alcohol. Here they’re just two students - a freshman and a junior - with nothing known in common and no obvious small talk. 

His mouth feels dry. He opens his soda and sucks it down too quickly. He feels a burp rise in his throat but he shoves it down. He stuffs some sandwich on top of the gas bubble to push it down. It works well enough, but he’s still certain he’s going to explode soon - either from the barely contained burp or the tension of wanting to talk to Tsukishima but not knowing what to say.

If Kenma was here he’d be quietly laughing. Akaashi, too. Bokuto would be slapping his leg and cackling. He has such good friends.

He swallows the bite he’d been chewing and takes a breath. He’s funny. He’s clever. He’s charming. They talk at work. They spoke at a party. Hell, they flirted at that party. And then Tsukishima drew him a bird. He’s got this.

Tetsurou smiles as naturally as he can manage and blurts out the first question he thinks of, “How’re your classes going today?” Oh, so boring. But it’s something.

Tsukishima takes a beat before he answers. He’s still looking at his phone when he says, “fine.”

He answered! Short but still. “Haven’t seen you around work much lately.” Not that he’s been looking, checking every single shift. Nope not at all.

“Took some days off to finish a project.” Tsukishima clicks his screen off and sets it down. He still doesn’t look over, just stares as he rubs his thumb into the palm of his other hand.

“For your project management class?”

Tsukishima finally looks over, a surprised look across his face before he works it back into his normal expression. “Yea, actually. I’ll be glad when it’s over.” He pauses and Tetsurou watches as he pushes his thumb into the palm of his hand over and over, like an anxious massage. “You?”

“Good! I’m nearly to my year of student teaching, so this is, like, my last year of just taking classes with only a little time in the classroom before I get thrown to the wolves. High school wolves.”

The blonde scrunches up his nose. “I could never teach.”

“It takes a rare breed.” Tetsurou feels his shoulders loosen. “But I can’t see myself doing anything else. I bet you’re the same. I mean, like, why’d you choose business?”

He shrugs, his eyes drifting back to his hands. “Just happened. Seemed like the sensible choice.”

Tetsurou’s not sure what to do with that answer. Even Kenma, Mr. Shrugs and Sleepy Eyes, picked his major because was fascinated by it. “Well,” he starts, unsure of where he’s headed, “teaching is anything but sensible. I’m gonna be broke but I’ll be everyone’s favorite chemistry teacher.”

Tsukishima looks back over at him, a now-familiar smile creeping just at the corner of his lips. 

“Did you get a chance to make choux buns?” Tetsurou asks after a pause.

The blonde clicks his tongue. “I told you before. I can’t make things like that in student housing.”

Tetsurou’s brain screams at him to offer his oven. ‘Come on over, hot guy, use my oven and anything else you want.’ “Did you used to do stuff like that?”

“I guess, but it’s just a hobby. I used to bake when I was stressed at home.” Tsukishima pulls his lips closed suddenly, like he’d let too many words out by mistake.

“Did you make any of those fancy things?”

“Sometimes.”

“Oh, like what?”

Tsukishima’s resumed pushing his thumb into his palm. “Nothing special. They weren’t very good.”

“Well, good thing your major is business then.” Tetsurou’s not sure it was the right thing to say, but the blonde always seems more at ease when there’s a touch of a bite to their conversations.

Tsukishima stops fidgeting with his hands and looks over, a quick puff of laughter on his lips. “Guess you’re right. Speaking of which, I have class soon.”

“Oh, well, good to see you.”

“Yea.” Tsukishima starts to gather the trash on his tray and slip his book bag over his shoulder.

“Thanks for the bird.” Tetsurou blurts out to his turned back.

Tsukishima looks over his shoulder. “What?”

“The bird you drew on my box. It was cute.”

Tsukishima spins his head back around. He takes a step then stops, turns on his heel. “Your company was marginally better than my phone.” The wicked grin is back but Tetsurou can’t ignore the pink threatening to crawl up his neck.

Tetsurou returns the look in kind, trying his best not to melt on the outside even as his insides turn to goo. “I’d hope so. A phone isn’t this witty and riveting.” He motions to himself and tilts up his chin.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Tsukishima starts to walk away.

“Will do!” Tetsurou calls after him.

He pushes aside his sandwich with only one bite missing. Who cares about eating now? He unlocks his phone and hammers out a message to Kenma.

<< I just had a full-on conversation with blondie AT SCHOOL  
<< I can’t breathe. I’m dying. I’m dead.

Kenma Cat >> …  
Kenma Cat >> no thx

<< pleaaasssseeeeeeee I’m all hyped up now

Kenma Cat >> fine. type. but I won’t read it.

Tetsurou proceeds to furiously type as his train of thought speeds off the tracks. When he’s finally done he sets his phone down and eats like a starving man. A starving, recklessly optimistic man in need of a victory sandwich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gently pushes our bois MORE*
> 
> Thank you all so much for the warm reception for the past few chapters. You are all so wonderful! It may sound silly, but every kudos and comment helps get me a little more confident, a little more excited to keep going.
> 
> So, uh, here's a hug, my little mille-feuilles.  
> ⊂((・▽・))⊃


	10. He’s so into you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi, the voice of reason.

<< Saw you on the schedule. Yeaaaa. See you later. We haven’t worked together all week!

Akaashi>> running behind but I’ll be in soon. 

<< why’s that? （；￣︶￣）what are yooooou up to?

Akaashi>> just homework  
Bokuto>> HEY

<< whoops, group chat. Didn’t realize

Bokuto>> BRO, what? You talk to kaashi without me?

<< like everyday

Bokuto>> WHY I am HERE FOR YOU

<< it’s just boring work stuff, bo

Akaashi>> and his current paramour

<< no

Bokuto>> what

Akaashi>> Kuroo’s got a crush on a cute bakery boy  
Akaashi>> and he tells me about it when Kenma stops answering  
Bokuto>> WHAT why don’t you tell me too

<< it’s nothing

Bokuto>> I CAN HELP I am so romantic kaashi tell him how romantic I am  
Akaashi>> he’s very romantic  
Bokuto>> SEE

<< argh it’s fiiiiiinnneeeee

Bokuto>> kaashi tell me everything  
Bokuto>> he just reminded me we’re sitting on the couch together so I can just talk to him  
Bokuto>> I’m gonna be there for you man  
Bokuto>> LET ME IN TO YOUR HEART  
Bokuto>> he says I need to stop texting you bc you’re at work now

Iced mocha. Whipped cream. More whipped cream than that. A little more. It’s just cream with a hint of coffee now. Tetsurou makes a joke about the customer being sweeter than her drink and she puts a little extra in the tip jar on her way out.

Since Akaashi arrived to start his shift halfway through Tetsurou’s, he’s been shooting him smug glances in between making customer orders. Thankfully, they stay pretty busy through the late afternoon, but as it winds down Akaashi keeps giving him expectant looks until Tetsurou spills.

“You already know everything that happened. It’s so little. It’s not even worth talking about.” Tetsurou whines, leaning back heavily on the back counter. He crosses his arms but there’s a smile forming on his lips. He can’t help it. He wants to look put out and, truthfully, talking about the whole situation makes him feel like an embarrassed idiot, but he likes thinking about Tsukishima.

“Yes, but -” Akaashi pauses when he notices a customer walking in “-why this one?” 

The question hangs in the air while Tetsurou takes the order and Akaashi takes his time crafting a cloud-like pattern in the foam on top. Tetsurou bets that Akaashi doesn’t realize that the tip of his tongue peeks out between his teeth as he works.

“This one seems to be holding your attention longer than the others lately.” Akaashi clarifies once he’s done but Tetsurou’s wheels are still spinning as he tries to process.

“I don’t think it’s that different.” Tetsurou deflects in the meantime. “We just talk sometimes. It’s not going anywhere.” He says the words out loud knowing they’re probably true even if they’re directly in conflict with every daydream he’s had. 

Whenever his mind wanders he imagines taking Tsukishima out on a proper date, learning what his favorite food is, what he likes doing on the weekends, watching that blush spread as he laughs at something Tetsurou said. But like the others, it’ll stay in his imagination. He reminds himself that all of this will fade and he’ll end up with a friend or maybe nothing. The last bit stings as it rattles around in his brain.

Akaashi softly smiles back. “I wouldn't be so sure.” He offers.

Tetsurou’s sure he means well, but Akaashi doesn’t know how his pattern the way he does - or even Kenma does. It’s safer to just enjoy what little he gets for a time and not expect too much.

He must make some sort of face because Akaashi adds, “But you know the situation better than me. What do I know?”

The conversation drifts back to classwork. Akaashi laments over things he can’t seem to memorize. Tetsurou whines about the people he tutors who just don’t get it.

“Get ready for more of that in your future. I wasn’t exactly the best student.”

“You? But you’re always studying. Your grades are excellent.”

“Yes, with things I can choose.” Akaashi stresses the last word. “Put me in a chem class and --” He closes his eyes and tilts his head like he’s fallen asleep.

Tetsurou mock gasps in shock. “You just had to attack chemistry, didn’t you?”

Akaashi snickers in his throat, but he keeps his expression bored and flat as he opens his eyes. “Not all of us have your passion.”

“That’s just because you haven’t had the right teacher. Watch - next time I come over, I’m going to bring -- what?” As he spoke, Tetsurou watches Akaashi’s eyes snap to the door and grow wider.

Akaashi furtively points to the door.

Tsukishima walks in. He’s wearing his black apron from the bakery over his still pristine white button down. It’s dotted with splotches of flour and sugar. He’s sporting his typical nonchalant expression but his fingers are tapping along the folded edge of a brown paper bag he’s holding.

The blonde approaches the counter with confident steps. Akaashi kicks at Tetsurou’s ankle to make him move. He shakes himself out of his momentary trance and stands up at the front counter.

“Hey, can I get you anything today?” Tetsurou tries to sound as casual as possible. Tsukishima’s only come to the shop once.

“Maybe later, but first -” Tetsurou wonders if he’s imagining the strain in his voice, “something to make you eat your words.” Tsukishima pushes the brown paper bag across the counter to him. The blonde folds his arms and waits.

Curious, Tetsurou unfurls the top and peers inside.

“They’re profiteroles, not exactly choux buns, but they’re similar. And -” Tsukishima tilts his chin up “-better than anything you could make.” His smirk stretches wide across his face and Tetsurou drinks up the challenge in his eyes.

Tetsurou heart is leaping around in his chest as he looks back down into the bag. “Can I try one?”

“They’re yours, so --”

Tetsurou reaches into the bag and picks one up. They might not be as neat as the treats behind the counter at the shop, but Tetsurou loves them already. The cooled chocolate over top starts to warm up between his fingers. He pops the small little pastry into his mouth. The sugary swell of vanilla hits his tongue just as the chocolate takes over. He smiles. “They’re good.”

He didn’t notice the tension before, but he sees Tsukishima’s shoulders relax. “Of course they are. I know what I’m doing.”

Tetsurou wonders what it’d be like to run his tongue along the seam of that smirk and make it melt. He blinks to stop staring at Tsukishima’s lips and finds his voice again. “Well, did you come here to get a drink, too, or just to show off?”

“Primarily the latter, but I’ll take something.” Tsukishima drums his fingers along the counter top.

Tsukishima ends up ordering the same thing as last time. When Tetsurou spins around to make it, he’s somehow shocked to find Akaashi standing there, like he’d forgotten anything that wasn’t the blonde for several minutes. Akaashi says nothing and leaves Tetsurou to painstakingly make a perfect mocha - to stay - for the object of his current affections.

“See, I can make things, too.” Tetsurou slides the cup and saucer towards him, ignoring the ponding in his chest.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Tsukishima pays and takes a seat close to the windows in the front. Tetsurou can’t look away as he unties his apron, folds it carefully, and tucks it away in his book bag, taking his laptop out instead.

Tetsurou feels a sharp jab between his ribs. He turns to see Akaashi glaring at him. “Are you kidding me? He’s so into you.”

Tetsurou makes a choked sound in his throat. “No, he just --”

“He was nervously tugging at his apron the entire time you two spoke. He brought you desserts. That he made. With his own hands. For you. Either you get that boy’s number right now or I’m going to do it for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi thought I was pushing them along too gently so he stepped in to do it correctly.
> 
> Kuroo (´๑•_•๑)  
> Akaashi ( •̀ω•́ )σ
> 
> As always, thank you, my little vanilla bean profiteroles!


	11. How about I do a better job at this--

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo works up his nerve.

Throughout his life Tetsurou has been more nervous than he feels in this moment, looking at Tsukishima from across the room.

He was more nervous when he moved to Tokyo as a kid and was trying to talk to the quiet boy next door for the first time. He was more nervous that time he got himself roped into a speech competition, forgot everything he’d memorized, and froze on stage until he improvised a speech on nothing for ten minutes. He was more nervous when he opened the large envelope from this university, his heart in his throat, waiting to learn if he was accepted or not. 

But Tetsurou always feels anxious when he asks someone out. It’s thrilling. It’s horrible. His skin feels prickly and warm. His track record, though, is solid - even if it takes him a long time to work up the nerve. Tetsurou almost always gets a first date. It’s everything after the first date that becomes a disaster. But this? This he can do, right?

Tetsurou looks across the shop at where Tsukishima’s sitting. He’s deeply focused on something on his laptop, his mocha almost untouched. The blonde is turned to the side, most of his back facing Tetsurou. He feels another jab in his side.

“Go. We’re not busy right now.” Akaashi hisses in his ear.

Maybe. Maybe he can do this.

The question Akaashi asked him earlier is still swirling around in his mind. “Why this one?” 

Possibly it’s because the first time Tetsurou saw him he was all sharp edges and sarcasm, all blonde hair and cutting features - and his smirk. Tetsurou sees it in his dreams. 

Because each time he burst into Tsukishima’s life, Tetsurou saw another layer. Slowly he’d seen more and he liked every piece that was revealed. Tsukishima could scowl, but he also picked at the hem of his sweatshirt when he was nervous. Tsukishima seemed bored by everything, but his wit was quick and he was obviously intelligent. Tsukishima pretended to hate everyone, but he was the kind of guy who would care for a drunk friend and laugh with his arm slung around him.

Because his nickname is “Tsukki” and Tetsurou wants to call him that.

Because Tsukishima seems like someone who holds everything close to his chest and, for some reason, he decided to tell Tetsurou where he was from, shared that he liked to bake, showed that he could doodle little birds, and made him desserts.

And most importantly - why this one? - because everytime Tetsurou sees him his stomach tightens, his heart pounds, he starts to sweat, and the rush is thrilling.

Tetsurou shoves another profiterole in his mouth from the little brown bag. Still delicious. He looks back over his shoulder at Akaashi. He says nothing but his mouth is in a tight straight line. He nods, determined. He slips through the swinging side door to walk onto the shop floor. He walks towards Tsukishima’s back, wishing he could approach from another angle so he doesn’t risk making the blonde jump out of his skin. He slows as he gets closer, swings around so he comes to a stop next to the open chair across from Tsukishima.

“So, how’d I do?”

Tsukishima only moves his eyes as he glances up. His head is still propped up with one arm.

“With the mocha?” Tetsurou continues.

Tsukishima gives him a lopsided grin. “Oh, pretty good.”

“The pro-profit-er-”

“Profiteroles. You can say cream puffs, but I hate that word.” Tsukishima says.

“They’re perfect.” Tetsurou slides into the chair across from him. Tsukishima closes his laptop. “Guess I’ll have to make you something else soon to prove my skills.”

“Guess so.”

Tetsurou steadies his voice. “Are you busy later today?”

“Classes this afternoon, homework, studying for a test.” He shrugs.

Tetsurou shifts in the chair. “It’s almost the weekend, any plans?” He was never the best at being direct. Tetsurou doesn’t come with canned lines ready to use, but he gets there. He just hopes he gets there soon because he’s sweating through the back of his shirt.

“Working. And I’ll probably get dragged to a party, other than that, not much.”

“Would you like to get coffee sometime?”

“I mean -” Tsukishima points to the mocha, “-I have my order right now, so -”

“How about I do a better job at this and you realize I’m asking you out?”

Tetsurou catches the blonde’s quick, sharp inhale. He waits for a response, holding his breath. Seconds that feel like hours pass and the words start to tumble out of Tetsurou’s mouth before he can shove them back in. “You don’t have to feel any pressure to say yes or whatever. You’re like, out of my league, but you can’t blame a guy for trying because--”

“Sure.” Tetsurou meets Tsukishima’s eyes the moment he answers. “That doesn’t sound awful.” Tsukishima says it with confidence but Tetsurou sees the telltale pink rising up his neck from under the collar of his white shirt. Tetsurou loves the way he blushes. “But can it be food instead of sweets or coffee? I have way too much of both of those on a daily basis. Can’t be healthy.” He laughs, but it’s small and strangled, like it got caught in his throat on the way out.

Tetsurou melts into a puddle of possibilities on the other side of the table. “Yea! Of course. Lunch? Dinner?”

“Lunch is good.”

Tetsurou runs through his work schedule in his mind, curing the extra shift he picked up on Saturday afternoon. “Sunday?”

“Sunday works.” The blonde replies and there it is - the little smile that sneaks in from the corner of his lips.

Tetsurou momentarily leaves his body and is sent to heaven. He only returns when he registers that Tsukishima is staring at him and that three customers have just walked in and he is most definitely still on the clock. He snaps back to reality, pulls a pen from his apron pocket. He grabs a napkin and hands both items to Tsukishima. “Can I get your number so I don’t have to track you down at the patisserie?” Tetsurou feels proud of himself for pronouncing the word. “I gotta get back to work.” He points to the counter where Akaashi has just started taking the next round of orders.

Tsukishima says nothing as he holds the napkin flat with one hand and carefully writes neat, little numbers across the middle.

“Awesome.” Tetsurou replies a little too enthusiastically but he’s too excited to care. He grabs the napkin and his pen back and gets up, jostling the table. “I’ll see you Sunday.”

“For lunch.” Tsukishima looks back up at him. His expression is cool as always but the blush has spread higher on his pale skin.

“For lunch.” Tetsurou repeats.

He has to consciously remind himself not to skip on his way back to work. And if he spills a little more coffee than usual or keeps accidentally missing the specifics of someone’s order and has to ask them to repeat it, then it’s forgivable.

Because he’s watching Tsukishima work and they have a date this weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh it was so hard to sit on this chapter and not publish it right away (but I want to space things out in case I get stuck on future chapters).  
> I was excited.ヽ(∩。∩゛ヽ)
> 
> Thank you, always, for all the fluff and kindness in comments. And thank you for kudos and subscriptions, too! I don't feel worthy with this silly bucket of fluff, but I'm glad it brings you all some smiles!


	12. Don’t be nervous, idiot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou spends Saturday night with Kenma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're not to the date yet! Enjoy this friendship moment.

Tetsurou hangs out with Akaashi and Bokuto after work on Saturday. They watch movies that no one really pays attention to, favoring instead to tease Tetsurou about his “big date” tomorrow. Well, Akaashi teases. Bokuto just earnestly gives him advice and encouragement. The sincerity makes Tetsurou blush despite himself. He definitely prefers Akaashi’s gentle barbs to the look on Bokuto’s face when he looks him right in the eyes and says, “it’s going to be perfect.”

That definitely doesn’t make his leg start tapping quickly on the floor. Definitely not. And his palms also don’t feel sweaty. Nope. Not at all.

He declines an invitation to go out with them later that night. Bars? Sure. Parties? Sometimes, why not? Clubs? No thanks. He leaves their place once Akaashi starts rummaging through their closet to set out both of their outfits for the night. “Have fun!” He sing-songs on his way out the door. 

He arrives at Kenma’s a little while later, Chinese take out in hand even though it’s far past a reasonable dinner hour. Tetsurou lets himself in and chuckles at the lump of blankets sitting on the floor in the dark. He flips on the hallway light and Kenma drops his controller and covers his eyes.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Dracula.” Tetsurou chuckles.

“Did you bring food?” The pile of blankets asks.

Tetsurou sets the plastic bag down on the floor in front of Kenma. The rustling stirs the beast from his pillowy den. Kenma drops the blankets down to his shoulders and he looks over, smiling. “Thanks. I’ll pay you for half.”

“No need. You bought last time. Just repayment.” Tetsurou ruffles his hair and plops down next to him on the floor, his back against the couch.

“What do you want to do?” Kenma asks, further emerging from his cocoon and reaching for the food in front of them. He opens each of the styrofoam containers and grabs a piece of chicken. No need for plates here.

Tetsurou shrugs. “Whatever.” 

And “whatever” is exactly what they do. Everything else in Tetsurou’s life might change or stress him out at times, but sitting on Kenma’s floor playing video games and watching bad TV shows from their youth makes him feel like he could be twelve or twenty and nothing would be any different.

Especially because even at twelve, Tetsurou had a penchant for dramatic crushes. Kenma’s been there for every hope-filled batch of homemade Valentine’s chocolates and every single let down in the end.

Tetsurou feels Kenma’s finger pressing hard into his knee. “Stop fidgeting.”

He wasn’t even aware he was doing it. He’s sitting cross-legged now and his leg was probably bumping into his friend for a couple of minutes before Kenma stopped him. “Sorry.”

Kenma unpauses the game. “S’fine.”

Barely a minute passes before Kenma pauses it again. He sighs softly before he speaks again. “Why are you fidgeting? Good or bad reason?”

Tetsurou thinks back to his wandering thoughts of Tsukishima and tomorrow. What were they going to talk about? Would Tsukishima like the place he chose? What would Tsukishima wear? He’d probably be gorgeous in anything. “Good.” He decides.

Kenma scrunches up his nose. “Your lunch tomorrow?”

Tetsurou snickers at the reaction. He nods. “Just nervous.”

“Why? It’s not like he’s going to bite you.” Kenma mutters. Tetsurou’s mind wanders to a very different place at the comment. Kenma groans. “Ugh, phrasing. But don’t be nervous. You’ve been on lots of first dates.”

“And they’ve been terrible.”

“Not true.”

Tetsurou leans his head back on the couch cushions. “I know. You’re right. But still.”

“If you do something often enough and you get better at it, right?”

“So I’ve leveled up in first dates?” Tetsurou snickers.

Kenma shrugs but a grin peeks through his measured expression. “Something like that.”

Tetsurou groans in frustration, his head seeping down into the cushions of the old couch. “But like, what if I say something dumb?”

“You say something dumb every time you open your mouth.” 

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I? Fine, so I’ll say something dumb but it’s fine.”

“Exactly.”

They go back to playing until Tetsurou’s eyes are sore and it stings when he remembers to blink. He flops onto the floor, announcing that he needs a break. He watches with amusement as Kenma grimaces when he remembers to blink, too. They both shove a little more now-cold Chinese food into their faces before Tetsurou tucks it all away in the fridge while Kenma digs out their futons.

Tetsurou almost can’t believe that Kenma still sleeps on the same futon from high school. But he’s nothing if not a creature of habit. Kenma even picked an apartment with a tatami-floored bedroom. Kenma refused to say it was because it reminded him of home, but Tetsurou knew better. 

Side-by-side, both of their legs stretch out longer than they did over a decade ago, but the rest is the same. Kenma on the left. Tetsurou on the right. Tetsurou even gets to use the same pillow he used during sleepovers. It’s old and structureless now, but Tetsurou likes the way it seems to remember how he likes to sleep folded between its layers.

“Don’t be nervous, idiot.” Kenma whispers into the darkness after they both settle in.

Tetsurou stops wiggling his feet under the covers. “Why shouldn’t I be?” Tetsurou asks with a sly grin that Kenma can’t see, but he knows Kenma will figure out he’s digging for compliments and assurance.

“Fine. Be nervous. Don’t sleep.”

“No - Kenma -” Tetsurou whines, dragging out the last sound of his name until it dissolves into a laugh. “Help me.” He begs between bouts of pitiful laughter.

“You don’t need it.”

It’s a lot easier to be sincere in the dark. Always has been. “I know, but I kind of do. Like -” he sighs heavily before continuing “-I’m excited for tomorrow, but what if I’ve built it up too much in my head? And like, what comes after tomorrow? I really like him, Kenma.” He doesn’t voice the rest of that sentence, the implicit fear of failure obvious to both of them. He knows Kenma already understands all of the ways his ruminating takes shape inside his anxious mind.

Tetsurou listens to his friend breathe beside him and stares up at the ceiling. His heart warms at the fact that Kenma is clearly taking his time to process what to say in return. “You bring me food, cook with your grandmother, work to help your dad with bills - you care a lot, even if you are heavy-handed with it at times. Plenty of people like that about you.”

He thinks of all the times he’s said “I love you” only to be met with unanswered calls and texts after. Or the times he’s planned vacations only to take Kenma along instead. Or asked people to meet his family too soon and been told that this isn’t what someone was looking for right now. 

“A lot of people haven’t liked it though.” 

“And they suck.”

Tetsurou snorts and Kenma chuckles in response.

“You’re right. They did suck.” Tetsurou pulls the blankets higher up until they touch his chin.

Tetsurou hears Kenma roll over and, even though it’s dark in his bedroom, he knows his best friend is curled up into a tiny ball. “Good night.”

“Good night, Kenma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for friendship fluff. Hope you are, too!
> 
> Up next is The Date. It might fit into one chapter. It might not. Not super sure yet. My notes for the rest of this fic have seen some changes lately, so I gotta keep tinkering to get it just right. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*。


	13. Still on for today at 1?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou takes Tsukishima to get some pho.

Sunday morning, Tetsurou re-writes his text to Tsukishima about eight hundred times before he sends it.

<< just making sure

Delete.

<< Morning! Just double checking that

Delete. He ignores Kenma’s snickering beside him as they eat their cereal together on Kenma’s living room floor.

<< Morning! Hope you’re 

Delete.

<< Morning, hope you had a good Saturday. Still on for today at 1?

He looks up from his phone and flashes Kenma a smug look. “I did it. I’m playing it cool.”

Tsukishima>> yep

The reply comes quickly and Tetsurou’s smile stretches from one ear to the other. Kenma rolls his eyes.

A few hours, several discarded outfits, and some teasing from his grandmother later, Tetsurou is in a busy subway looking for the exit where he told Tsukishima to meet him. He’s ten minutes early and extremely proud of himself. Now he’s going to have time smooth out his black jacket, work with his hair, and practice leaning against a wall like he’s not a ball of nervous energy.

Tetsurou rounds a corner, narrowly avoiding a pack high schoolers in their uniforms, and sees Tsukishima already standing there.

Casually leaning against a wall.

Like he’s not a ball of nervous energy.

Tsukishima’s looking at his phone. He’s wearing the same expressionless face Tetsurou usually sees, but his lips are just barely mouthing along to the music in his bright white headphones. He’s wearing jeans and a burgundy sweater that’s peeping out front from the top of a puffy, blue coat. There’s faux fur around the collar of the coat. Tetsurou finds that wonderfully adorable for some reason.

He approaches slowly and waves to get Tsukishima’s attention. The blonde’s eyes go round for a second and Tetsurou sees Tsukishima chew his top lip as he takes off his headphones.

“Hey! You hungry?” Words fly out of Tetsurou’s mouth about as fast as his heart is beating. It’s a wonder Tsukishima can understand him.

“Haven’t eaten all day, so, yea.” Usually Tetsurou has to work for that hint of a smile from the blonde, but it’s there already.

Tetsurou feels like he’s going to vibrate out of his skin. It’s wonderful. 

He starts leading them towards the restaurant through the busy Saturday crowds. All he asked Tsukishima before he picked the place was if he had any allergies or any food he hated. Tsukishima replied that he had no allergies and hated anything too spicy. A little is fine, he clarified, but not a lot.

Tetsurou also had his wallet to consider. He decided on a Vietnamese place he sometimes went to with friends. It was in a trendier, but still up and coming part of the city, so it was nice but within his price range. Sure, they might have thrown in odd “fusion” ingredients from time to time, but it was good and it looked cool inside. Tetsurou hoped Tsukishima would care about that sort of thing given that the patisserie he worked in looked like it was cut out of a French movie scene.

The small talk is painful at first.

“What’d you do yesterday?” Tetsurou asks.

“Not much. You?”

“Worked a double, so -”

“Yea. Me, too. Not a double, but I worked.”

He enjoys walking side by side next to someone that makes his heart want to explode, but craves for the tension to feel exciting not just tense. “So do you like pho?”

“I’ve only had it a few times.”

“I thought it’d be good because you can kind of pick how you want it to taste. Not too spicy. And they have other things, too, if you don’t like it.”

“Pho sounds good.” Tsukishima looks up at him, “It is cold.” He offers as explanation, pulling the loose hood of his coat tighter around his neck.

“ _Pho_ real, it is.”

Tsukishima looks forward and just keeps walking. Tetsurou tries again, leaning over to make it all the more obvious. “Yea, it’s really _pho_ -bulous on a cold day.”

Still nothing, but the blonde acts very interested in something on the other side of the street.

“It’s really good _pho_ you.”

Tsukishima groans. “I thought if I ignored you, it would stop.”

Tetsurou cackles in response. “You’ll find I’m very persistent.”

“So I’ve gathered.” Tsukishima glances over at him to let loose a magnificent eye roll, but that lets their eyes meet for a moment. He quickly fixes his eyes back on the crowds in front of them. When he speaks again, it’s quick and mumbled. “You’re pretty _pho_ -ceful about things you set your mind on. Oh that was awful forget it.”

“Can’t. It’s un- _pho_ -gettable.”

After that the conversation is easier, even if they’re still wading around in the shallow end. By the time they get their food, they’ve shared about their classes and student life in general. Tetsurou whines about the mountain of work waiting for him at home but shares a few of his recent high school student stories from his classroom visits this term. Tsukishima complains about his neighbors but mentions a new dessert at the bakery.

“That sounds pretty good. I’ll try it if I can rustle up the cash.” Tetsurou tries not to make it register on his face that Tsukishima’s long legs just gently bumped into his again under the table. “What’s, like, the most difficult thing you’ve managed to make?”

Tsukishima purses his lips together and rips another basil leaf to throw into his soup bowl before he answers. “Anything with a mirror glaze. I’ve only managed to do it acceptably well probably once - and even then it was still just okay.” Tetsurou thinks he must’ve looked confused because Tsukishima clarifies, “It’s like icing that’s really, really shiny.” He smirks, the same way he would when Tetsurou mispronounced things in the shop. “You know, like a _mirror_. Hence the name.”

Tetsurou shares a provocative grin of his own. “You know, I know things that you don’t know.”

“Like what?” Tsukishima raises an eyebrow.

“Plenty.”

“Doubtful.”

“Chemistry. Try me.”

“No thanks.” Tsukishima grins and punctuates the end of his part of this conversation by swallowing another spoonful of pho.

Tetsurou returns to the previous conversation, eager to do something other than stare at the blonde’s mouth as he eats carefully, or at his glasses when they steam up from the warm soup in front of them. “Those desserts you made me were really good.”

Tsukishima’s eyes dart back to his bowl. The tips of his ears are redder than they were before.

“You ever think of trying to bake professionally in the future?”

Those eyes shoot back up to look at Tetsurou. His laugh sounds like a cough stuck in his throat. “Are you serious? No way.”

“Why not? You’re more talented than most people our age with that sort of thing.”

“How would you know?”

“Well, for starters I’ve met other people in college and they definitely don’t know how to make prof - cream puffs -”

“Profiteroles.”

“-like you do. Also you seem to like it.”

“Liking it isn’t the same as doing it professionally. There are thousands of people far more talented than me, even the same age - or younger.”

“Oh.” Tetsurou’s smile slips from his lips. “You just seem to really care about it.”

“It’s not a job.”

“You do it now. And your boss, she obviously does it.” Watching the way Tsukishima starts to fold back into himself makes Tetsurou force himself to stop speaking. 

Tsukishima sits back from the table, an unuttered sigh on his lips. “It’s just not for me.” A chill spreads across the tabletop and Tetsurou tries to keep an easy smile on his face. Tsukishima lets loose a breath Tetsurou didn’t realize he was holding and asks, “So are you good at cooking anything?”

“Yea, lots actually.”

“Really?” Tsukishima’s still sitting back against his chair, his utensils resting next to his still unfinished lunch. He meets Tetsurou's gaze with his own.

“You seem surprised.” Tetsurou grins.

“You scream ‘dry ramen noodles straight from the packet’ to me.”

“Don’t get me wrong, also great, but -” And then Tetsurou launches into all of the things he likes to cook. Most of his favorites he learned to make from his grandmother. He lists all of the simple, yet somehow so easy to mess up, heartwarming favorites - like _niku-jaga_ with his grandmother’s special broth recipe or how he swears she makes the best fried chicken and he’s been trying to emulate it for years. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind Tetsurou is yelling at himself to stop talking so much about his family on the first date. He hopes it’s more endearing than lame, but he’s done this before and clearly no one liked it then.

But more than anything he hopes that his rambling will bring back the mood they had earlier. Even as Tsukishima begins to form his whisper of a smile again, Tetsurou can’t seem to shake the idea of the blonde as some tightly coiled spring that, as much as he’d like to, he doesn’t really know anything about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I knew it. I knew I couldn't squeeze the date into one chapter. I tried and it was a big ol' mess. And then I kept procrastinating finishing this chapter because I was still trying to smoosh a ton of dialogue into one short chapter and pffffttttttttt.
> 
> Anywho, fixed it.
> 
> I hope.
> 
> (๑♡3♡๑) Thank you for reading, my little gâteaux.


	14. You’re a dork.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the rest of the date.

“What was it like growing up in Miyagi?”

The awkward “job talk” bump in the road becomes something that Tetsurou is determined to drive right on over. Tsukishima responds by swirling his chopsticks in his almost empty bowl.

“Nothing special. Can’t be all that different from growing up here.”

Tetsurou tries so hard to unpack the bored expression that’s returned to the blonde’s face. Tsukishima’s still there, still sitting across from him, but Tetsurou knows he’s struck a nerve and made the blonde hide behind his familiar walls.

So Tetsurou decides to embarrass himself. After all, Tsukishima snickering at his awkwardness was basically how this whole thing started. 

He sets out to prove that city life must be different from country life. He holds up his fingers as he lists each part of the story he’s about to tell. “Junior High. Bad haircuts. Trying to look cool. Reporters. Police.” He grins when Tsukishima's interest seems to peak at the final word. 

Tetsurou recounts the whole story of the time the group of absolute nerds he used to hang out with unwittingly became witnesses at a convenient store theft. “We thought we were so cool. That day we’d actually skipped last period to go, of all stupid places, to the convenient store down the street.” 

He tells the story like it’s an intense crime drama and not just some small-time thing. The police showed up to apprehend the thief and they had to be interviewed as witnesses. “If that wasn’t bad enough, the news showed up, too.” Tetsurou pulls out his phone to show a photo from a newspaper clipping, “now there’s forever evidence of a teenaged me weeping next to a police office with, oh yes, you noticed correctly, an excellent fade haircut with lightning bolts cut into the side.”

Tsukishima takes the phone and the small smile that started at the beginning of the store has grown enough for some of his teeth to show. “Oh, it looks so bad. How unfortunate.”

“I made some excellent choices. See? City life.”

The blonde grins and shifts in his seat, settling back into a more relaxed posture. He resumes eating, speaking again in between bites of his meal. Tetsurou learns a little about what Tsukishima was like in high school, “definitely not cool, but also no police.” 

He learns that Tsukishima met Yamaguchi when they were still in elementary school and liked to collect insects together. “I still have most of my insect identification books, actually.”

With each gift of closely-guarded personal information, Tetsurou responds with his own until both of their bowls are empty and the tea on the table has long since grown cold. Tsukishima’s once rigid posture has now melted down and he’s now leaning on one arm, the other hand drawing straight lines on the table as he talks. Tetsurou leans forward with both hands holding up his head.

He learns that Tsukishima is a business major because that’s what his brother did, what his dad did, and “they can probably help me get a job after school.”

Tetsurou still might not know very much, but his list of things he knows about Tsukishima has grown a little longer. He’s sarcastic, he’s clever, he gets nervous, he blushes perfectly, he’s a good friend, he’s absolutely a nerd, he’s sensible, but he seems -- defeated.

“So, have you figured out your classes for next term yet? Registration opens soon.”

“I guess. My major is pretty planned out for me. Business administration doesn’t come with a lot of exciting elective choices and I usually just take what my counselor picks for me.” And for a moment it’s back - the look of someone who purchased a chocolate chip muffin and got blueberry instead. Still fine, still a little smile, but a hint of disappointment.

“Well, any classes you’re looking forward to? Like for me, my spring term is going to be focused on student teaching, but in the fall I’ve got this scientific literacy course I’m really excited about - unpacking how teenagers brains’ are still developing and - “ Tetsurou catches his breath, notices Tsukishima’s face, and slows down, “-how best to approach teaching new information - Sorry I rambled. I get into it.”

“No it’s - it’s fine. You like what you do.” Tetsurou still can’t name the expression. Maybe it’s like when someone stubs their toe while talking and they pretend it doesn’t hurt like hell. “That’s good considering you’re burdened with the task of passing along knowledge to a actively hostile crowd.”

Tetsurou snorts. “They’re not hostile. They’re complex. And, you’re not even a whole year out of high school yourself.”

“I’m wise beyond my years.”

“Ah, youth. Still so sharp, not yet humbled by the grindstone of life.”

“You’re only two years older than me.”

“Oh, what's that?” Tetsurou leans back against his chair wistfully, “I can still hear it, the whispers of youth on the wind.”

“You’re a dork.” And Tsukishima laughs. An honest laugh, small but still there. 

Tetsurou’s sure his face showed his momentary shut down and need to reboot, just as he’s sure his face is now sporting a solid blush of its own. He wants to look at Tsukishima right in the eyes and say, “Tsukki, that’s the single best sound I’ve ever heard in my life.” But he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t.

But he wants to.

“I don’t know. I just don’t see what all the fuss is about. I take classes to get work later. That’s the point, right?” Tsukishima scrunches up his face a little.

“So, like, you’re not going to take a random pottery class or something?”

“Why would I waste money on that?”

“Well, first off, you need an art credit, but also it was really fun. I made a pile of lumpy vases and bowls that are all over my house.”

Tsukishima lazily waves a dismissive hand. “I’m sure there’s a way around having to do any of that. Or to find something useful that will count. Fun’s what you do after class.”

“You might discover you’re a master potter! Or painter! Or writer, or something.”

The blonde shrugs. “I’ve got the next couple of years pretty well mapped out. I don’t really want to mess with it.” He sits up straighter and ties his hands together in his lap, pulling the long sleeves of his sweater over his hands.

“You never know what you might discover about yourself. Could be fun.”

Tsukishima chews his bottom lip.

“I mean, I learned I sucked at pottery but I was a decent enough short fiction writer.”

Tsukishima looks down at his hands.

“And you seem super creative. I mean, look at all the cool things you know how to make.” Tetsurou smiles wide but it quickly falls when Tsukishima looks back up at him.

His face is cold and still. “Kuroo, I don’t think you know me well enough to give me advice on what I need to do differently.”

Tetsurou swallows hard at the unexpected reaction. Seconds pass before either of them move. The background noise of the restaurant that was so easy to ignore before rushes into Tetsurou’s ears. 

The waiter chooses that exact moment to drop off the check.

Tsukishima reaches for his wallet, but Tetsurou’s already out of his chair, forcing a wink as he walks to the front register to pay. While he’s there he replays the last few minutes, he sweats, he plans. He walks back expecting to enact a plan to clean up whatever mess that was, but finds it’s not needed.

Well, maybe needed, but Tsukishima sure seems to pretend it’s not. His coat is draped over his arm and that careful smirk is back on his lips. “Wasn’t sure you could pay after all the money you spend at the patisserie.”

Tetsurou hides his confusion behind a smile. He takes a breath, pushing aside the lows and chooses to focus on everything else about the day that makes him feel lucky. “Small price to pay for making this happen.”

Judging by his face, that wasn’t what Tsukishima expected. The blonde freezes in place, his lips parted from an unsaid response. He takes one small step towards the door and stares out at the street through the big front windows of the restaurant. He looks to the side and captures Tetsurou’s eyes with his own. “Thank you. For lunch.” He smiles.

Tetsurou amends his list of what he knows about Tsukishima and adds -- he’s frustratingly and wonderfully confusing, and he’s private but he tries to share if he thinks you might be worth it. 

Tetsurou positively glows at the idea that he, of all people, might be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many times can you revise a chapter?  
> A MILLION, APPARENTLY!  
> This date was the scene I pictured before I started writing anything down in an outline. One of my favorite things about krtsk as a ship is how pivotal Kuroo was in encouraging Tsukishima's growth as a character. I wanted to try to bring a spin on that whole idea to this fic.
> 
> Can't wait to keep adding to this because, well, they haven't gotten that happily ever after just yet. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧


	15. Any first date is a little weird.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou thinks. And overthinks. Then there's a text.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to wait to post. *throws it and runs away*

Sunday evening Tetsurou remembers only the best parts of the date - the way Tsukishima looked off in the distance when he talked about meeting Yamaguchi, the way he laughed when Tetsurou told him embarrassing stories, how he took forever to carefully work his way through a bowl of pho.

But by morning he’s repeating old patterns and losing the battle against overthinking. It must be written all over his face because his grandmother holds his head in her hands before he leaves for class in the morning. She kisses him on the nose and tells him to stop worrying about whatever it is that’s making his face scrunch up like that. It’s sweet but it doesn’t help. He definitely pushed a little too hard.

Tsukishima was right. He doesn’t know him well enough to comment on how he’s living his life. And even if he did, a first date isn’t the place. 

It’s just that Tetsurou’s surrounded by people who are determined, who committ. Akaashi might seem nonchalant, but the man studies until his eyes give out. Tetsurou’s never seen anyone work as hard as Bokuto with a sport. And even Kenma, the king of forgetting to eat dinner or not leaving a couch all weekend is still self-motivated enough to teach himself new programming languages not covered by his classes. Not to mention his dad and his grandmother.

And if Tsukishima reacted differently, if he had seemed content with remaining on a path set out for him by others, then Tetsurou would simply put an expiration date on his little crush. He would know that there was no future there. But that wasn’t what he saw. Tsukishima didn’t even seem to buy in to what he was saying. There was so much more going on below the surface.

But again, Tsukishima was right. It wasn’t his place to say.

Before and after each class, and even during the more dull moments of lectures, Tetsurou unlocks his phone and tries to send a text to the blonde after not hearing anything last night. Tetsurou knows the “rules,” knows that he should probably wait to text so he doesn’t seem as needy as he usually does. 

Really, though, texting too soon had literally been the least of his worries in the past. After a first date he was usually so much more over-the-top than this. It was the reason he knew exactly how much a singing telegram cost. Tetsurou shudders at the memory. Rules be damned. He’s sending a text.

He rewrites it no fewer than ten times before he finally hits send.

<< Enjoyed lunch yesterday!  
<< Hope your Monday doesn’t suck!

He doesn’t like all the exclamation points, but it’s already sent and out of his hands.

There’s no reply all afternoon. Tetsurou’s mood dips lower and lower until he shows up at the coffee shop for the closing shift. Akaashi’s already there. 

Tetsurou waits until the line dies down. He groans and drops his head onto Akaashi’s shoulder.

“I saw your face and decided not to ask about the date, especially since you didn’t text me yesterday.” Akaashi says. He moves to pat Tetsurou’s messy hair but shifts at the last second on purpose, giving Tetsurou an awkward face full of Akaashi’s hand.

Tetsurou laughs and stands up, sighing. Akaashi smiles.

“It wasn’t bad! And yesterday I was all excited. Like, we had a nice chat when we walked there and back. And lunch was really good, talked about school and growing up and stuff.”

“That all sounds about right.”

“But I don’t know. Parts of it were -- off.”

“Any first date is a little weird.” Akaashi reassures.

“Even you and Bo?” Tetsurou looks doubtful.

“Absolutely.” Akaashi snickers. “But mostly on my part. It’s one thing to go from all-consuming adoration from afar to being just a few inches away from the object of your affections.” He raises an eyebrow. “I was a mess.”

“Well, that helps, knowing you’re a disaster, too --”

“A successful disaster.”

“--but, you know, I didn’t say ‘I love you’ or say ‘hey let’s go to the mountains to look at the leaves half a year from now’ but I still think I messed up.”

“In what way?”

Tetsurou launches into his panicked retelling of the afternoon. He leaves in all the happier bits but he stresses all the times where Tsukishima seemed upset by him asking about school. Even though it stings to repeat it, he includes what Tsukishima said about not knowing him well enough to get to say any of that.

“But then after that it was like it didn’t happen? He didn’t seem upset about it, but he also didn’t talk as much as he did before that happened.” He groans again. “I’m just gonna go adopt like twenty of some weird animal. Really lean into it. Like stick bugs or something. Just be lonely Stick Bug Guy, nobody to love but my stick bugs.”

Akaashi laughs softly behind his hand. “I don’t think it’s hopeless. And please don’t go buy twenty stick bugs. Not yet at least.”

“They’re actually really cool, you know.”

“I bet.”

Tetsurou turns to look his friend in the eye. “So you don’t think I messed up?”

Akaashi shakes his head. “I think you’re fine.”

Forever the good friend, Akaashi steers the conversation into more comfortable territory. They indulge in sweet, sweet gossip about their less-than-favorable classmates, professors, and neighbors. Then they argue over the best settings for the coffee grinder. Akaashi wins since he’s the one who actually remembers everything from the boring training videos.

Tetsurou feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He ignores it until it goes off three more times. His heart jumps around inside his chest but he harshly reminds it to not get excited.

Tsukishima>> Today was fine.   
Tsukishima>> Actually kind of weird.  
Tsukishima>> Are you at work tonight?  
Tsukishima>> Also yes, I enjoyed lunch, too.

Tetsurou tugs hard on Akaashi’s sleeve to grab his attention. He holds his phone out, his mouth frozen in a silent gasp. Akaashi’s eyes settle on his phone screen. Tetsurou finds his voice. “What does all of that mean?” He croaks.

Akaashi pinches his lips together. “It is a little weird, but look--” he points at the messages “--he said he enjoyed lunch.”

“But why would he said that today was ‘kind of weird’ and then ask if I was working?”

“No idea.” Akaashi shrugs, but then his face stills in thought, his teeth worrying his bottom lip. “Actually, what would you normally do after a first date?”

“Me? Some big gesture. I stopped doing them about a year ago because they always bombed, but I was practically known for sending a ton of flowers or writing a song about them and,” Tetsurou grimaces, “singing it outside their dorm.”

“I’m going to go ahead and count my blessings that I didn’t know you then, but also,” Akaashi hands back Tetsurou’s phone, but taps hard on the question Tsukishima asked, “maybe this is his version of a romantic gesture. I think you need to reply. Soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oya oya oya - what's gonna happen next?  
> It's FLUFF! You have a good idea, but weeeee, I can't wait.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the spontaneous update. I've been writing the next few chapters (only a few left) all evening since I got home and I JUST. COULDN'T. WAIT. (◐ω◑ ) Why? I don't know, just really into the flufffffffffffffff.


	16. Eat the macarons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are more macarons. (๑°꒵°๑)･*♡

<< I’m here until close. After 9.

Tetsurou sends the text and then pretends to focus on work. He spills coffee. He swaps orders. Akaashi just pokes him in the ribs and tells him to slow down. 

Seven o’clock comes and goes. Eight o’clock comes and goes. Tetsurou can’t think about much other than the constant scroll of “why did he ask me if I was working?” screeching through his brain.

At nine o’clock there are still a few customers wrapping up conversations in the shop but Akaashi flips the sign to “closed.” Tetsurou continues to check-off items from the closing shift list. When he and Akaashi close together on a slower night they usually can get out of there earlier. They wordlessly dance around each other in an efficient routine they’ve practiced many times before. Akaashi’s usually more than ready hurry home and see Bokuto. 

If Tetsurou scrubs a little harder than normal, it’s definitely not because he’s trying to preoccupy his mind.

The last of the customers file out as they work.

A little before 9:30 Tetsurou hears knocking on the glass. They’re both checking inventory in the backroom. It wouldn't be the first time Bokuto begged to get in after closing so he could wait inside and take the train home with his boyfriend. Tetsurou rolls his eyes. “Go get your boy.”

Akaashi shoots him a look but slips back out onto the shop floor. He comes back in a few moments later. The corners of his eyes crinkle as his mouth stretches into a smirk. “I think you need to go check it out. I’m going to be back here. For a while. So, you know--”

Tetsurou starts to feel a hammering in his chest. He takes big, clumsy steps back out into the shop. On the other side of the counter is Tsukishima. He’s once again managed to find a sweatshirt too big for his body but too short for his arms. He looks soft and warm and -- shy, painfully shy. His shoulders are hunched like he’s trying to make himself smaller. Tetsurou thought he’d seen him blush before but everything pales in comparison to the bright, rosy flush that marks the blonde’s ears, his cheeks, his slender neck.

“Hey.” Tetsurou says. He’s immensely proud of his ability to say anything at all.

“Hey.” Tsukishima echos. He carefully pushes a familiar-looking brown bag onto the counter. Tetsurou can’t help but stare back at the eyes cautiously avoiding his. Seconds pass before either of them move. Tsukishima taps the bag impatiently. “Open it.”

Tetsurou does as he’s told. He unfolds the bag and peers inside to discover a couple of adorably misshapen macarons. Each one is a slightly different shade of brown, some have little cracks in the pastry, and the filling drips out of a few like the blonde may have rushed to finish them.

“They’re not from the shop. I made them. They’re pretty terrible.”

“No, they look wonderful.” Tetsurou replies immediately. He looks up and has to consciously remember how to breathe. Tsukishima is staring right at him, something fierce in his eyes.

“I enjoyed yesterday, but I’m sorry.” He screws his eyes shut. “I’ve apologized maybe five times in my life, but Yamaguchi yelled at me, so --”

“What do you need to apologize for?”

Tsukishima face goes blank with disbelief. “Really?”

“Well, yea.” Tetsurou chews his lip before continue. “If anything I should apologize because I kept bothering you about classes and your choices and whatever else. And you were right, I don’t know you well enough to say any of that.” He gestures widely as he speaks, but Tsukishima seems to be crawling deeper inside his body with every word.

“That’s just it.” He shoots back, but there’s no venom in it, just surprise. “You don’t know me, but you figured me out.” He groans and scrunches his face together before letting it relax again. “Well, some of me. I didn’t like how you had just met me and yet you seemed to guess a lot of things correctly. It didn’t help that they were things I didn’t like. Basically,” he takes a deep breath, “I do things that are easy like that because if you don’t try you can’t fail and that is a thing I know about myself and I hate it and you called me out on it so I got, I don’t know, upset. Eat the macarons.”

Tsukishima’s words blur together so much by the end that Tetsurou’s not sure if he heard him right. “What?”

“Eat the macarons.” His voice is somehow pitiful but on the edge of laughter. “They’re ugly but they’re good. I ate a bunch before I came over here.” A whisper of a smile peeks out from the corner of his lips.

“But you just--”

“Eat them please. I just said a ton of embarrassing stuff and I need you to not say anything back right now. So, eat the macarons.” The smile fades. He picks at the hem of his sweatshirt. Tetsurou can see a few loose threads there already.

He picks one out of the bag and holds it up, afraid to eat it because he knows he’s being watched. He doesn’t dare look up. Tetsurou bites it in half. Instantly chocolate and coffee flavors rush over his tongue. They might be mushier than the bakery’s, but they’re delicious. He closes his eyes and sighs happily. Silently he finishes the other half in one more bite. He dusts the crumbs off on his apron and only then does he have the courage to raise his head again. “You’re right. They are good.”

Tsukishima stands up a little straighter. “I told you I know what I’m doing.”

The response is a far cry from the blonde’s earlier claim that they were “pretty terrible,” but Tetsurou lets it go. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Tsukishima’s voice seems to be returning to normal. His familiar smirk seems to grow at the compliment.

Tetsurou takes another deep breath. “There are, like, a million better ways I could have talked about all of that and about a million better times to say it. I can be a lot --”

“I’ve noticed.” Tsukishima cuts him off.

“But I want to be a lot of, like, good stuff, not a lot of obnoxious stuff. And I know me saying all that was off because I don’t know you that well, but I’d like to.” Tetsurou hopes that the earnest tone in his voice carries. He means it. Every word.

“You’re not obnoxious.” Tsukishima mumbles. He looks down at where his hands are worrying the edges of his sweatshirt. “And I’d like that, too.” He groans and pushes the bag closer to Tetsurou again. “Just eat them and let’s stop talking about it.”

“Deal. But only if you eat some, too.”

Akaashi must have been listening in because he gives them a few awkwardly warm moments of eating homemade baked goods in silence before he walks out the back muttering quickly on his way out the door, “Everything’s done. I’m out. Bye!”

Tsukishima’s eyes grow wide as he watches Akaashi’s back walk out the front door.

“It’s fine.” Tetsurou tries to calm his worries. “He can’t have heard much. And he’s my friend so he already knows everything anyway.”

Tsukishima stoops over and buries his head into folded arms on the counter. “I would very much like to curl up and die now, please.”

Tetsurou pokes his arm. “We're about the same level of embarrassing right now.”

“That’s not a comfort.” Tsukishima picks up his head and suddenly Tetsurou is very aware of how close their faces are. He’s instantly transported back to the party where Tsukishima’s body was so very close to his, when Tsukishima’s breath danced past his ear. A warm rush passes through his body and Tetsurou feels every inch of his fingertips, his toes, every bit of his skin is reacting to the new position, even with a counter between them.

He leans over a little more. Tsukishima doesn’t pull back. The blonde’s lips part like he’s going to speak, but they just close again. Impossibly, Tetsurou registers that Tsukishima is leaning closer, that his eyes are fluttering closed, and then Tetsurou feels soft but hesitant lips against his.

It’s over as quickly as it began. Tsukishima pulls back just enough so that they can see one another clearly. Neither of them move.

Tetsurou swears it takes him years to find his voice and when he does it’s softer than he expected. “I think I need to ask you out again.”

“I think you do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter felt so good.  
> (´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`) ♡  
> (๑・ω-)～♥”  
> ( ˘ ³˘)♥  
> ( ˊᵕˋ )♡


	17. You’re just full of surprises.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second date.

Tetsurou asks his grandmother for a cookie recipe. She serves him serious side-eye as she recalls the recipe and writes it down on a notecard for him. Tetsurou feels twelve again, like he’s asking his grandmother how to make chocolates for Valentine’s day. He knows she’ll help, just as he knows there will be a fair amount of light-hearted teasing along the way.

Besides Kenma, she’s the person that most understands what a hopeless romantic he is. It’s not that he doesn’t tell his dad this stuff. Okay, he doesn’t, but it’s just because there’s dad stuff and there’s grandma stuff. And matters of the heart feels like grandma stuff. She’s the one who wrote poems for his grandfather when they were both in high school, after all.

He makes a disaster batch and a good batch of simple sugar cookies. For all his chemistry knowledge, baking is way out of his comfort zone. With cooking, he can put in how much “looks right” or “feels right,” because he has a feel for those things by now. But, baking is a science. He thinks with all his chemistry knowledge he should crush it, but understanding the theory behind what is happening in the oven only gets him so far.

Once they cool, his grandmother helps him tie up one so it looks like a proper gift. The others are divided into tupperware. One is for the house. One is for his dad to bring to work. The last is for Kenma. There’s always food for Kenma in this house.

<< If you can haul your carcass out of your apartment, I made cookies  
<< plus grandma’s cooking extra for you - mapo tofu tonight. You know you want it.

Kenma Cat >> 30 min

True to his word, Kenma knocks on the door in just over thirty minutes. They watch TV and stay out of the kitchen, grandma’s orders, until Tetsurou’s dad gets home. Kenma gives his usual short, but polite responses to everyone’s catching-up questions. Throughout dinner, his grandmother has a spark in her eye. Tetsurou’s sure it’s because they’re little family unit is all sitting down for dinner together until --

“So Tetsu-kun, who are the cookies for?”

Tetsurou chokes on a bite of spicy tofu. She grins like she absolutely waited until this moment to ask. “Nobody, just -”

Kenma puts down his spoon. “He’s seeing someone.”

“Kenma, what the hell?” Tetsurou laughs through his betrayal. Kenma’s grin matches his grandmother’s. Tetsurou’s dad tries very hard not to look at his son as a snicker starts to slip from his throat. The rest of the evening is hilarious torture but Tetsurou cannot possibly care because he’s seeing Tsukishima again Friday night.

***

On Friday morning Tetsurou runs into Tsukishima outside the library as they’re both hustling to class. Tetsurou almost passes right by him but he stops short, nearly losing his balance. 

“Morning!” He calls out.

Tsukishima stops and pulls out an earbud. “Oh, morning.”

Other students swerve around them in their haste to reach classes. Tetsurou opens his mouth a few times without actually saying anything.

“Have a good class.” The blonde breaks the weird silence, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet.

“Yea you, too!” Tetsurou tries to wave but almost drops the books in his arms. “See you later.”

“Yea, I’ll, uh, see you later.”

They walk off in opposite directions and if Tetsurou wasn’t sure before, then he’s absolutely certain he will learn nothing in class that day.

Dinner and a movie. Classic date. He picked the restaurant. Tsukki picked the movie. (He won’t say it out loud but that nickname is absolutely what the man is now inside the comfort of Tetsurou’s own mind.)

In fact, his exact text was --

Tsukishima >> I don’t care where we eat but I am particular about what movies I see.

They end up swapping the order to become movie and then dinner because the better theater across town offers student discounts before eight o’clock. It’s both cute and sensible, Tetsurou thinks. Seems fitting for Tsukki’s personality.

What didn’t fit his perception of the blonde was his choice in movies. He picked some expensively-made blockbuster sequel complete with dinosaur-inspired mechs and brazenly poor acting. Tetsurou was sure he seemed like the foreign films with weird angles and lengthy subtitles type.

<< Really?

Tsukishima>> What? I like it.

<< just didn’t think that’d be your thing

Tsukishima>> I spend my whole day being smart. I need a break.

<< ooooooof course  
<< you’re just full of surprises

Tsukishima>> We can see something else.

<< NO. I’m looking forward to it.

What Tetsurou meant was not just that he was looking forward to it, but “How did I found someone this hot who’s clever and snarky and adorable and bakes wants to chill out with bad action movies, am I dreaming?”

They meet outside the theater and this time Tetsurou is the one that’s there early because he arrived a full thirty minutes ahead of time. It’s warmer than their last date, but he knows it’s going to get cooler later on. He’s sporting a red track jacket from a brand that makes him feel fashionable when he wears it and jeans that, as Bokuto crassly put it, “make his ass look excellent.” The cookies he made are in his pocket. He carefully pats his side every couple of minutes to make sure they’re still there.

By the time Tsukishima gets there, Tetsurou’s checked his watch about a million times. When he looks up from his watch again he’s surprised to finally see him, dressed in a dark purple sweater and some faded jeans. They go through the motions of familiar, careful small talk - lots of ‘hey’ and ‘how’s your day?’ and asking about classes. Tetsurou thinks back to how quickly they used to fall into banter when he visited the bakery. He’d mourn the loss of that level of ease if what he got in return wasn’t so much better.

The flirting was fun and quick. This is better. This is the start of something big. Tetsurou can feel it.

Even if it’s excruciatingly slow at the start.

They take their seats towards the back and Tetsurou swears he’s excitedly sweating through all of his layers of clothing. His whole body feels warm and alive.

“So I assume you saw the first one.” Tetsurou looks to his left, trying to break through to the other side of a comfortable conversation.

Tsukishima’s staring intently at the screen even though it’s still only running ads. “Of course. Otherwise why would I watch this one?”

Tetsurou shrugs. “I don’t know. For the mechs?”

“Clearly that’s a bonus, but,” Tsukishima turns to face him, a playful smile at the corner of his mouth, “I didn’t just see the first one. I own it.”

Tetsurou grins. “So you’re all business, baked goods, and bad movies.” His hand is placed firmly on his leg but the blonde’s hand is on his armrest, so very close. He’ll wait for the right time.

“Basically. Not a whole lot else to me.” Tsukishima smirks, inching just a little closer.

“Somehow I doubt that.”

Leaning closer to one another, they whisper their way through the previews. Tsukishima seems to relax as they make fun of the worst of the upcoming releases together. 

Just before the opening scene rolls, Tetsurou reaches into his pocket and places the small package of carefully wrapped cookies on the armrest between them. He whispers, “just something to enjoy with the movie.”

As a bright landscape comes on the screen, Tetsurou can see the look of fond surprise on Tsukishima’s face.

The cookies are gone before the movie is even halfway over. 

And Tetsurou ends up not having to pick the perfect time to reach out try to carefully hold hands. Tsukishima does it for him right in the middle of an epic mech battle. Even though the scene is almost painfully loud, Tetsurou can’t hear a thing over the sound of his heart in his ears when he feels a soft palm rest on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness it's almost over! I wrote these last few chapters in a whirlwind of inspiration as the story took over my thoughts whenever I had any down time. I might take a week or so to get the final chapter out. I want to make sure it feels like an *end.*
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this little update. Thank you for all the kind words along the way. One more to go!(•‾⌣‾•)و ̑̑♡


	18. Maybe I’m very wise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More date! Now with a restaurant!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA JK, MORE CHAPTERS FOR YOU.  
> I couldn't fit everything I wanted into ch 18.

“No way, that whole subplot about the time warp wasn’t wrapped up at all.” Tetsurou adds to their ongoing debate as they start the short walk to the restaurant after the movie. He zips his track jacket up to his neck, wishing he would’ve brought something warmer, but he knows he’d never willingly choose function over fashion when it came to a date.

Tsukishima has no such qualms. He puts on the same well-worn puffy coat from the other day and flips up the furry hood. Tetsurou doesn’t think it’s fair how cute he looks in it even as he lightheartedly argues back. “Are you blind? You could clearly see that the wormhole was closed during the final battle. They even talked about it.” 

“But how? No one explained exactly how they did it. It just happened.”

“And what’s wrong with that? It solved the problem.”

“I need clarity! I need closure!” Tetsurou laughs, gesturing wildly with his arms.

Tsukishima snickers. “Good thing there’s going to be a third one, then.”

Tetsurou hopes they can see the next one together, but keeps those thoughts inside his mouth and doesn’t let them tumble out. He’s as excited as always, but he’s going to be careful. Tetsurou feels like he has to be this time around. He really likes this one. Something about him is refreshingly different.

The restaurant Tetsurou picked is a little Italian place near the theater. He’s brought dates here many times before. If he was superstitious, he wouldn't bring anyone here anymore to avoid any potential bad vibes from the past ruining the present. But, Tetsurou figures, if he avoided every place he’d taken a date to before, then practically half the city’s reasonably-priced restaurants would be out. Plus, Tetsurou likes the candles on the tables and the high backs of the booths that gives everyone their own little private space. The whole place is decked out in old wood and cozy details. It feels more like sitting in someone’s nicely decorated home than a restaurant.

Once they take their seats, Tetsurou’s ready to keep debating the finer points of the bad movie, but when he looks across the table, the breath is knocked out of him. Tsukishima’s blonde hair is ruffled from the hood of his coat after he takes it off and folds it neatly beside him. His cheeks are rosy from the chilly evening air -- Tetsurou thanks the universe for the man’s pale skin. And though Tsukishima is wearing a relaxed expression, his hands are slowly knotting together from nerves in his lap.

Tetsurou hopes his own face conveys everything he can’t say -- ‘I really want to kiss you right now. I’m hungry and we’ve had a great time but I’d forget it all just to stand somewhere outside and kiss you until I’m out of breath.’

Instead he manages to say, “I don’t know how you feel about shellfish, but the scallops here are always great.”

Without the distraction of the movie or the walk outside to distract them, conversation lulls. There are few places to look other than directly at one another. Tetsurou has no problem with that. In fact, he’s having issues looking away from the sight in front of him, but he tries to give Tsukishima some space to get a little more comfortable since the blonde’s eyes have been glued to the white tablecloth for several minutes while they talked.

They fall back on the normal, dry topics as they wait for their food -- classes, friends, work.

“The woman who runs the shop is actually letting us submit ideas for an upcoming spring-themed campaign.” Tsukishima shares.

“That’s cool. Do you have any ideas?” Tetsurou leans forward, resting his elbows on the table.

The blonde shrugs. “A few.”

“And--?” Tetsurou gestures with one hand like he’s obviously waiting for more.

Tsukishima sighs, “And I’ve already submitted them.” He waves his hand dismissively. “I don’t think she’ll pick them. They’re not really up to par with everything else in the shop.”

“She might! And even if she doesn’t, maybe I could still try them anyway?” Tetsurou winks. It seems to be the right answer because the thin line of Tsukishima’s mouth begins to stretch into a smile.

Then, Tsukishima grows quieter. Tetsurou notices him drumming his fingers, picking at the sleeve of his sweater. He still answers when Tetsurou asks him things and he’s clearly listening, but part of his mind is elsewhere. A small inkling of anxiety starts to grow in Tetsurou’s heart.

Once their food arrives, Tsukishima picks up his fork and then promptly sets it back down. He closes his eyes, quickly knotting his brows together, before relaxing again with a quick exhale. “Thank you for what you said, I guess.” His words blur together, then he slows down. “It was nothing my friend Yamaguchi hadn’t already yelled at me before, but hearing it from someone else made it, I don’t know, stick or something. Anyway, I talked with my academic counselor about my elective options and I’m choosing some in the entrepreneur path so that maybe, someday, I could, I don’t know -- try something I want to do.”

As he listens, Tetsurou feels his heart double in size. His whole body feels warmer when he replies. “You’re welcome. I guess? Maybe I’m very wise.”

“Don’t push it.” Tsukishima smirks awkwardly, but the blush on his cheeks is rapidly receding.

“As an offering to even things out, can I admit something to you?” Tetsurou asks.

Tsukishima’s eyes grow a little wider. “Sure?”

Tetsurou sits back against the booth. “I’m a dating disaster. Right now I’m equally over the moon excited and petrified that I’ll say something stupid. Which I guess I just did.”

Across the table, Tsukishima’s smirk grows wider but he doesn’t say anything.

“But so far every time I’ve let,” he motions to his whole body, “whatever this is out you’ve been really cool about it. So, thanks.” For the first time that evening, Tetsurou can’t look right at Tsukishima and has to stare at his fork instead until he hears the other man reply.

Tsukishima laughs softly. “You’re welcome?” He groans, his nose scrunching up a little. “This is so weird. But good. Let’s just eat. Your scallops do look great, like you said, and I’m starving because my lunch was just some chips and salsa.”

“You should eat better.” Tetsurou gestures at him with his fork.

Tsukishima clicks his tongue, that spark of friendly challenge back in his eyes. “I’m aware, but you’re one to talk with all of those pastries you buy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who knows at this point? Each scene keeps stretching so long... might get to 20. (I don't like odd numbers. HA.) I just don't want to cut anything out! And maybe you're cool with that. Probably you are.
> 
> They're both so sweet. Is it obvious yet why krtsk is my otp? (∩˃o˂∩)♡ I just... I just love them so much.
> 
> Chat with me on Twitter - [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


	19. You want to bake with me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the date and this sappy, little fic.

“You should have worn a warmer jacket.” Tsukishima remarks. 

They’re a few steps from the steps that lead up to Tsukishima’s student housing. They lingered at the restaurant over empty desert plates for as long as their conversation allowed -- and as long as social norms allowed them to hold on to a table long after their meal was finished.

The whole evening Tetsurou noticed how Tsukishima would talk in waves, sometimes crashing in with a monologue on something that interested him, then retreating from shore into his own thoughts as he excused himself with a snappy comment. It was like he saved his energy for the things that actually interested him.

On the walk back from the train station, he’d been unusually chatty -- even after his initial embarrassment when Tetsurou insisted he walk him back to his dorm.

Tetsurou hoped that meant he was something that actually interested the blonde.

“I’m fine.” Tetsurou replies with a smile.

Tsukishima stops and leans back against the brick foundation of the steps. “You’re shivering, you idiot.”

Tetsurou closes the small gap between them. He carefully reaches out a hand and slides it up one Tsukishima’s arms, coming to rest on his shoulder. The blonde doesn’t move away. 

“But I look good.” He tentatively sets his other hand on Tsukishima’s waist - or the place where his waist would be were it not buried under all of the puffy layers. Tetsurou feels light-headed at being this close, even with the scratchy sound of the polyester coat threatening to ruin the moment.

Tsukishima doesn’t reply for a moment. His eyes are locked on to Tetsurou’s. When he speaks, the levity of his words doesn’t match the intensity of his stare. “Your hair is too insane for you to ever look good.”

Tetsurou leans forward, their foreheads now nearly pressed together. “No way, you like my hair.”

“I’m not sure where you got that idea.”

“Prove me wrong.”

Tsukishima’s lips part like he froze on a witty retort. He bites his bottom lip and Tetsurou feels Tsukishima’s hand slide up the arm of his track jacket. Tetsurou holds his breath as he watches the blonde’s gaze shift from his eyes to his hair. Tsukishima’s gentle fingers brush back his messy bangs and his nails trace soft lines down towards his ear.

Tetsurou barely has time to register the feather-light touch on the back of his neck before he’s captured warm, soft lips with his own, perhaps a bit more urgently than he intended. A kiss like this has been hours, no, weeks in the making and Tetsurou’s fighting the urge to get lost in it. He tries to keep things cautious and slow, but for a moment Tsukishima breaks away and a small gasp escapes his lips. 

The sound forces Tetsurou’s eyes closed as he pushes down the contented sigh that wants to fill the air between them. Tetsurou slips a hand into the short hair at the back of Tsukishima’s head and he feels the other man melt against him. Their lips meet again, less hesitantly than before. Tetsurou licks along Tsukishima’s bottom lip and every nerve in his body feels on fire when the blonde sighs against his lips and parts for him.

Tetsurou brings his other hand up to trace a line along Tsukishima’s jaw as the kiss deepens. He feels the other man’s hands clasp behind his neck.

It’s Tsukishima who eventually pulls back first. Tetsurou can see his breath in the chilly, night air as Tsukishima attempts to catch his breath. Tetsurou knows how he must look right now, his gaze focused on Tsukishima like he’s the only person in the world.

“I really like you.” The words tumble out quicker than Tetsurou can hold them in. He tries to regret it but this feeling of honest sincerity feels too good. He waits for the usual stutter, for Tsukishima to quickly find a way to make his exit.

Instead, Tsukishima points out, “You know we’re outside, right?”

“So?” Tetsurou presses their foreheads together again. “Your hands haven’t moved. Do you care?”

“Yes, but --” He casts a quick glance around and smirks. “Not really.” He tilts his head a little and pulls Tetsurou forward, their noses hitting in an awkward but satisfying reconnection of their lips. 

The door cracks open above them and Tsukishima instantly pulls away and tenses, his eyes wide. His hands yank away from Tetsurou’s neck and come to rest at his sides. The sudden change in the other’s expression makes Tetsurou grin. He takes a step back to give Tsukishima some space, but leaves his hands resting on Tsukishima’s arms.

Once the other student walks away, Tetsurou breaks the tension. “When can I see you next?”

Tsukishima stops glancing around and focuses on him again. He still looks shocked and his voice sounds soft when he speaks. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

The reply does more than surprise him. Momentarily, Tetsurou feels like he’s been hit by a bus - a bus filled with everything great in the world all at once. He stutters, “Nothing, I just -”

The blonde’s grimace returns. “Forget it. Too soon. I’m making it weird again.”

Tetsurou shakes his head. “No it’s great. Really great. I work the closing shift but I’m free before and after. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“We could just hang out. I made, like, alright cookies for today, but maybe you could teach me something better?”

“You -- you want to bake with me?” Tsukishima’s nose scrunches up.

“Well, yea, unless you don’t want to.” Tetsurou pinches his lips together. He absentmindedly circles his thumb on the rough fabric of Tsukishima’s coat.

“No, that’s -- that’s fine.” Tsukishima’s reply comes slowly, like he’s thinking about every word. “I’ve managed to make do with the common room oven so far. I usually have to clean it before I use it, because god knows what those cretins have put in it, but --” he trails off.

Tetsurou’s smile stretches so wide it hurts his cold cheeks. “Let’s do it! Think you can teach me how to make macarons or those tall, fancy, little cakes?” In his excitement, he realizes he pulled Tsukishima closer to him again.

The familiar smirk returns. Seeing it up this close does things to Tetsurou’s already short-circuiting brain. “You’re not ready for that.”

“So what am I ready for?”

“Not much.” Tsukishima raises an eyebrow.

“Rude.”

“Accurate.” The smirk slowly dissolves into a smile. When he opens his mouth to speak again Tetsurou expects another gentle jab. “Palmiers.”

“What?”

“You’re ready for palmiers. They’re basically cookies, just more interesting. You could probably handle that.” 

“I bet I could. And I bet you won’t make fun of me at all.”

“No promises.” Tsukishima’s intense gaze settles on Tetsurou again. It’s earnest and more sincere than any words Tetsurou can find to reply, so he says nothing for a long while. He relishes the perfectly wonderful and ridiculous cliche of getting lost in someone else’s eyes.

Tsukishima does have really nice eyes.

Tetsurou smiles and takes one of Tsukishima’s hands in his own. “Perfect. So, it’s a date.”

Tsukishima slips his fingers between Tetsurou’s and holds his hand a little tighter. “Yea, it’s a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished. Oh my goodness, it's finished.
> 
> Writing this fic was an absolute joy from start to finish. Some of you said in comments that it brightened your day, and that brought me so much happiness because, you know, writing it helped me focus on something sweet and happy and feel a bit brighter myself, too.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate you all more than I can say!  
> ☆*✲ﾟ*｡(((´♡‿♡`+)))｡*ﾟ✲*☆

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome friends!
> 
> This fic started because I watch far too much Great British Bake Off. I could just *see* Tsukki in a tidy, perfect patisserie and then this idea wouldn't let me go.
> 
> I usually gravitate towards angst, but this one is going to be fluffy and light with minor bumps in the road until these two get together. Also I'm experimenting with shorter chapters with (hopefully) more frequent updates. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Kudos are yummy. Comments are unbelievably delicious and I always reply! 
> 
> You can find me on twitter, [@HeyMellieJellie](https://twitter.com/HeyMellieJellie).


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